THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO 


AX   EXPERIMENTAL    STTTTTY 


GEORGE   OSCAR  FERGUSON.  A.M. 


REPRINT  OF 

ARCHIVES  OF  PSYCHOLOGY 

No.   3(1,     AlMin,,    1O1O 


\~  :  \ft&\1-\   CJ 

Ps^  01101,00^  ,  VOT.TTMK    .vXV,   No.   1 


SUBMITTED  IN  PARTIAI^  FTJI^FTI^MENT  OF  TUB 

FOR  THE  I>EG  .  M^E  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHIIXJSOPHY 
THE  FACUT/TY  OF  PHILOSOPHY 
COI/tTM  III  A  TJTv  1 VE  KSfTY 


YORK 

1010 


, 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO 

AN  EXPERIMENTAL   STUDY 


BY 

GEORGE  OSCAR  FERGUSON.  JR.,  A.  M. 


REPRINT  OF 

ARCHIVES  OF  PSYCHOLOGY 

No.  36,   APRIL,  1916 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  CONTRIBUTIONS  TO  PHILOSOPHY  ANI> 
PSYCHOLOGY,  VOLUME  XXV,  No.  1 


SUBMITTED  IN  PARTIAL  FULFILMENT  OF  THE 

REQUIREMENTS  FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHIIjOSOPHTY 

IN  THE  FACULTY  OF  PHILOSOPHY 

COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 


NEW  YORK 
1916 


P4 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  REVIEW  OF  WORK  PREVIOUSLY  DONE 1 

Non-Experimental  Studies,  2. 

Boas,  2;  Le  Bon,  4;  Tylor,  4;  Hall,  5;  Odum,  7;  Bardin, 
8;  Galton,  8;  Thorndike,  8. 

Experimental  Studies,  9. 

Bache,  9;  Smith,  10;  Stetson,  10;  McDonald,  10;  Wood- 
worth,  11;  Mayo,  13;  Phillips,  14;  Strong,  17;  Baldwin, 
19;  Pyle,  20. 

Neurological  Studies,  22. 

Bean,  22;  Mall,  23;  Hrdlicka,  24;  Summary  of  Chapter 
25. 

II.  THE  SUBJECTS  AND  THE  TESTS 27 

The  Subjects,  27. 

White  and  Negro  Population  and  Education  in  the 
Localities  Tested,  27;  Relative  Action  of  Selective 
Factors  upon  Whites  and  Negroes  in  Schools,  28; 
Number  and  Distribution  of  Subjects  Tested,  32;  Com- 
parative Ages  of  Whites  and  Negroes  Tested,  35. 

The  Tests,  37. 

Mixed  Relations  Test,  37;  Completion  Test,  39;  Maze 
Test,  41;  Cancellation  Test,  41;  Method  of  Giving  the 
Tests,  41;  Method  of  Scoring,  42;  Reliability  of  Short 

Tests,  45. 

III.  GENERAL  COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES.  . .    46 

Treatment  of  Data,  46. 

Mixed  Relations  Test,  50. 

Relative  Ability  of  Pupils  of  the  Same  Age  but  Dif- 
ferent Grades,  55. 

Completion  Test,  61. 
Maze  Test,  66. 

Cancellation  Test,  75. 

Relative  Variability  of  Speed  and  Accuracy  in  Tests, 
79;  Racial  Sex  Differences,  83. 


IV.  COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSES  OP  NEGROES 84 

Number  and  Distribution  of  Pure  Negroes  and  Mulat- 
toes  in  the  United  States,  84. 

Views  of  Other  Writers,  87. 

Boas,  87;  Hall,  88;  Jordan,  88;  Le  Bon,  89;  Baker,  89; 
Stone,  90. 

The  Classification,  90. 
Numbers  and  Ages,  92. 

Standing  in  the  Tests,  95. 

Treatment  of  Data,  95;  Mixed  Relations  Test,  95; 
Completion  Test,  105;  Relation  Between  Skin  Color 
and  Racial  Purity,  110. 

Comparative  Variabilities,  111. 

Significance  of  Variability,  113;  Methods  of  Measur- 
ing Variability,  113;  Results,  114. 

V.  CONCLUSION   123 

General  Summary  of  Conclusions,  123;  Ability  of 
Mulattoes,  125;  Educational  Considerations,  125;  Com- 
parison of  Whites  and  Negroes  in  Terms  of  the  Num- 
ber of  Eminent  Men  to  be  Expected  from  Each  Race, 
127;  Considerations  Bearing  upon  the  Future  of  the 
Negro,  128;  Death  Rate  of  Whites  and  Negroes,  131. 

REFERENCES   133 

APPENDIX  136 


AUTHOR'S  NOTE 

The  author  wishes  to  express  his  thanks 

To  Superintendents  J.  A.  C.  Chandler,  of  Richmond,  and 
E.  F.  Birckhead,  of  Fredericksburg;  to  Acting-Superintendent 
E.  W.  Huffman,  of  Newport  News;  to  Principals  J.  H.  Brent, 
S.  D.  Turner,  W.  G.  Jones  and  J.  C.  Harwood,  of  Richmond, 
W.  L.  Ransone,  of  Fredericksburg,  and  D.  A.  Dutrow,  of 
Newport  News ;  and  to  the  teachers  whose  grades  were  tested, 
for  their  cooperation  in  this  study; 

To  Professors  J.  McK.  Cattell  and  E.  L.  Thorndike,  and 
Dr.  A.  T.  Poffenberger,  Jr.,  of  Columbia  University,  for  their 
helpful  suggestions; 

To  Colonel  Clarence  Hodson,  of  Newark,  for  his  thoughtful 
interest  and  kind  assistance  in  the  preparation  of  the  work; 

To  Professor  R.  S.  Woodworth,  of  Columbia  University, 
for  his  constant  readiness  to  aid,  his  helpfulness  in  many 
ways  during  the  course  of  the  research,  and  his  many  kind- 
nesses. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO— 
AN  EXPERIMENTAL  STUDY 


CHAPTER  I 
REVIEW  OF  WORK  PREVIOUSLY  DONE 

Interest  in  the  psychology  of  the  negro  has  produced  a 
voluminous  literature,  but  the  knowledge  to  be  obtained  from 
a  reading  of  it  is  not  commensurately  extensive.  It  may  be 
not  unjustly  said  that  until  what  is  practically  the  present 
time  our  information  as  to  the  negro's  intellectual  character- 
istics has  been  almost  wholly  a  product  of  varying  individual 
opinion  and  speculation.  Here  and  there  have  appeared  works 
of  value,  based  upon  study  and  experience  and  presenting 
carefully  drawn  conclusions.  But  for  the  most  part  the  litera- 
ture consists  of  articles  which  have  grown  out  of  limited  and 
untrustworthy  observation,  and  of  articles  which  have  attacked 
the  problem  from  the  standpoint  of  preconceived  theories  and 
have  reached  conclusions  a  priori  from  the  premises  thus  held. 
There  has  been  no  settled  body  of  doctrine  concerning  the 
vastly  important  matter  of  the  mental  capacity  of  the  negro. 
One  man  has  held  that  the  negro  is  the  equal  of  the  white  in 
intellect;  another  has  held  that  a  great  intellectual  gulf  sep- 
arates the  two  races.  And  there  have  been  many  varieties  of 
views  between  these  two  extremes.  There  have  been  no  facts 
agreed  upon  and  consequently  no  reliable  generalizations.  Yet 
social  practices  of  far-reaching  importance  have  been  based 
upon  these  varying  views.  Some  school  systems  have  advo- 
cated giving  precisely  the  same  training  to  precisely  the  same 
racial  minds;  other  systems  have  advocated  a  differentiation 
of  school  work  to  meet  the  needs  of  two  mentally  different 
races ;  the  advocates  of  both  views  have  put  their  beliefs  into 


2    ...   •  •  .,     :  .THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

practice.  Many  social  and  political  considerations  have  of 
course  had  their  bearing  upon  these  educational  matters,  but 
certainly  ideas  as  to  the  nature  of  the  mind  of  the  negro  have 
not  been  without  influence.  And  the  social  and  political  con- 
siderations themselves  have  had  a  psychological  background. 

In  the  last  few  years  a  number  of  objective  studies  of  the 
intellect  of  the  negro  have  been  made,  and  they  constitute  a 
definite  step  toward  a  scientific  answer  to  the  vexed  question 
upon  which  they  bear.  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  present  chapter 
to  review  the  experimental  work  which  has  been  done  in  this 
limited  field  of  race  psychology  and  also  some  of  that  which 
has  not  been  experimental.  In  the  following  chapters  will 
be  set  forth  the  results  of  an  objective  study  which  it  is  hoped 
will  contribute  in  some  measure  toward  an  answer  to  the 
problem. 

Non-Experimental  Studies 

In  discussing  "human  faculty  as  determined  by  race," 
Boas,  in  an  early  article  ('94),  the  substance  of  which  is  in- 
corporated in  a  later  work  ('11),  pointed  out  that  while  the 
skull  capacity  of  modern  European  whites  is  1560  cc.  and  that 
of  European  whites  of  the  neolithic  period  is  the  same,  the 
skull  capacity  of  the  mongaloid  race  is  1510  cc.,  that  of  the 
negroes  of  the  Pacific  ocean  is  1460  cc.  and  that  of  African 
negroes  is  1405  cc.  The  negroes,  too,  were  at  least  as  tall 
as  Europeans.  Another  way  of  putting  it  is  to  say  that  while 
50  per  cent,  of  whites  have  skull  capacities  of  1560  cc.,  only  27 
per  cent,  of  negroes  equal  or  exceed  this  skull  capacity. 
Further,  "We  find  that  the  face  of  the  negro  as  compared 
to  the  skull  is  larger  than  that  of  the  American,  whose  face 
is  in  turn  larger  than  that  of  the  white.  The  lower  portion 
of  the  face  assumes  larger  dimensions.  The  aveolar  arch  is 
pushed  forward  and  thus  gains  an  appearance  which  reminds 
us  of  the  higher  apes.  There  is  no  denying  that  this  feature 
is  a  most  constant  character  of  the  black  races  and  that  it  rep- 
resents a  type  slightly  nearer  the  animal  than  the  European 
type."  ('94,p.  311).  "Our  conclusion  is,  that  there  are  differ- 
ences between  the  physical  characters  of  races  which  make 
it  probable  that  there  may  be  differences  in  faculty.  No  un- 
questionable fact,  however,  has  been  found  yet  which  would 
prove  beyond  a  doubt  that  it  will  be  impossible  for  certain 
races  to  attain  a  higher  civilization."  ('94,  p.  317). 

In  a  later  article  ('01,  p.  3),  Boas  argues  as  follows:    "A 


REVIEW  OF  WORK  PREVIOUSLY  DONE.  3 

number  of  anatomical  facts  point  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
races  of  Africa,  Australia  and  Melanasia  are  to  a  certain  extent 
inferior  to  the  races  of  Asia,  America  and  Europe.  We  find 
that  on  the  average  the  size  of  the  brain  of  the  negroid  races 
is  less  than  the  size  of  the  brain  of  other  races,  and  the  differ- 
ence in  favor  of  the  Mongaloid  and  white  races  is  so  great 
that  we  are  justified  in  assuming  a  certain  correlation  be- 
tween their  mental  ability  and  the  increased  size  of  their 
brains.  At  the  same  time  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
variability  of  the  mongaloid  and  white  races  on  the  one  hand, 
and  of  the  negroid  races  on  the  other,  is  so  great  that  only 
a  small  number,  comparatively  speaking,  of  the  individuals 
belonging  to  the  latter  have  brains  smaller  than  any  brains 
found  among  the  former;  and  that,  on  the  other  hand,  only  a 
few  individuals  of  the  mongaloid  races  have  brains  so  large 
that  they  would  not  occur  at  all  among  the  black  races.  That 
is  to  say,  the  bulk  of  the  two  groups  of  races  have  brains  of 
the  same  capacities,  but  individuals  with  heavy  brains  are 
proportionately  more  frequent  among  the  mongaloid  and  white 
races  than  among  the  negroid  races.  Probably  this  differ- 
ence in  size  of  the  brain  is  accompanied  by  differences  in 
structure,  although  no  satisfactory  information  on  this  point 
is  available." 

Boas  then  takes  up  the  arguments  that  primitive  races 
cannot  abstract,  inhibit  impulses  or  choose  according  to 
standards  of  value.  His  contention  is  that  primitive  man  does 
do  tnese  things,  but  that  he  does  them  from  his  own  point 
of  view  and  to  meet  his  own  needs,  and  not  in  the  same  way 
that  civilized  man  does  them.  Similarly  with  the  argument 
that  while  a  savage  can  perceive  well  in  a  sensory  way,  he 
cannot  interpret  phenomena:  he  does  interpret  phenomena, 
but  from  his  own  point  of  view,  as  is  the  case  with  all  men. 
"Our  considerations  make  it  probable  that  the  wide  differences 
between  the  manifestations  of  the  human  mind  in  various 
stages  of  culture  may  be  due  almost  entirely  to  the  form  of 
individual  experience,  which  is  determined  by  the  geographical 
and  social  environment  of  the  individual.  It  would  seem  that, 
in  the  different  races,  the  organization  of  the  mind  is  on  the 
whole  alike,  and  that  the  varieties  of  mind  found  in  different 
races  do  not  exceed,  perhaps  not  even  reach,  the  amount  of 
normal  individual  variation  in  each  race."  ('01,  p.  11). 

A  radically  different  opinion  from  that  of  Boas  is  held  by 


4  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

Le  Bon.  ('98).  This  author  holds  that  the  human  race  may 
be  divided  into  four  groups  on  the  basis  of  psychological  char- 
acteristics: (1)  Primitive  races,  such  as  the  Fuegians  and 
the  aboriginal  Australians,  (2)  Inferior  races,  such  as  the 
negroes,  (3)  Average  races,  such  as  the  Chinese,  Japanese, 
Mongolians  and  Semitic  peoples,  (4)  Superior  races,  which 
are  the  Indo-Europeans.  "No  confusion  is  possible  between 
the  four  great  divisions  we  have  just  enumerated.  The  men- 
tal abyss  that  separates  them  is  evident."  ('98,  p.  28).  The 
specific  differences  which  separate  the  primitive  and  inferior 
peoples  from  those  which  are  higher  are  that  the  former  races 
have  a  relative  incapacity  to  reason  or  associate,  to  com- 
pare and  draw  conclusions,  to  attend,  observe  and  reflect,  to 
exercise  foresight,  to  persist  in  a  given  line  of  activity,  to  hold 
to  a  distant  rather  than  a  present  end.  These  differences  are 
practically  ineradicable,  and  they  determine  the  achievement 
of  the  races.  "The  various  elements  of  the  civilization  of  a 
people  being  only  the  outward  signs  of  its  mental  constitution, 
the  expression  of  certain  modes  of  feeling  and  thinking  peculiar 
to  a  people,  these  elements  cannot  be  transmitted  unchanged 
to  peoples  of  a  different  mental  constitution:  all  that  can  be 
transmitted  is  the  exterior,  superficial,  and  unimportant 
forms."  ('98,  p.  233). 

Races  of  men  also  differ  in  the  relative  size  of  their  brains, 
according  to  Le  Bon.  From  measurements  of  the  volume  of 
several  thousand  skulls,  he  concludes  that  the  differences  are 
real,  though  not  very  considerable.  And  he  further  draws 
the  interesting  conclusion  that  the  more  civilized  races  display 
a  much  greater  divergence  from  their  average  brain  size  than 
do  the  races  which  are  backward.  Thus  the  higher  races 
have  more  very  large  and  very  small  brains  than  primitive 
people,  relatively  to  their  average ;  the  brains  of  the  inferior 
races  conform  more  nearly  to  their  average  type. 

Tylor  writes  ('04,  pp.  74-75) :  "There  seems  to  be  in  man- 
kind inbred  temperament  and  inbred  capacity  of  mind 

In  measuring  the  minds  of  the  lower  races,  a  good  test  is  how 
far  their  children  are  able  to  take  a  civilized  education.  The 
account  generally  given  by  European  teachers  who  have  had 
the  children  of  lower  races  in  their  schools  is  that,  though 
they  often  learn  as  well  as  the  white  children  up  to  about 
twelve  years  old,  they  then  fall  off,  and  are  left  behind  by 
the  children  of  the  ruling  race.  This  fits  with  what  anatomy 


REVIEW  OF  WORK  PREVIOUSLY  DONE.  5 

teaches  of  the  less  developed  brain  in  the  Australian  and  Afri- 
can than  in  the  European.  It  agrees  also  with  what  the  his- 
tory of  civilization  teaches,  that  up  to  a  certain  point  savages 
and  barbarians  are  like  what  our  ancestors  were  and  our 
peasants  still  are,  but  from  this  common  level  the  superior 
intellect  of  the  progressive  races  has  raised  their  nations  to 
heights  of  culture." 

"Moreover,  there  is  this  plain  difference  between  low  and 
high  races  of  men,  that  the  dull-minded  barbarian  has  not 
power  of  thought  enough  to  come  up  to  the  civilized  man's 

best  moral  standard Much  of  the  wrong-doing  of  the 

world   comes   from  want   of  imagination The   lower 

races  of  men  are  so  wanting  in  foresight  to  resist  passion  and 
temptation,  that  the  moral  balance  of  a  tribe  easily  goes 
wrong,  while  they  are  rough  and  wantonly  cruel  through 
want  of  intelligent  sympathy  with  the  sufferings  of  others, 
much  as  children  are  cruel  to  animals  through  not  being  able 
to  imagine  what  the  creatures  feel."  ('04,  pp.  407-408). 

In  discussing  racial  brain  differences  Tylor  says :  "Professor 
Flower  gives  as  a  mean  estimate  of  the  contents  of  skulls, 
Australian,  seventy-nine;  African,  eighty-five;  European, 
ninety-one.  Eminent  anatomists  also  think  that  the  brain  of 
the  European  is  somewhat  more  complex  in  its  convolutions 
than  the  brain  of  a  Negro  or  Hottentot.  Thus,  though  these 
observations  are  far  from  perfect,  they  show  a  connection 
between  a  more  full  and  intricate  system  of  brain-cells  and 
fibres,  and  a  higher  intellectual  power,  in  the  races  which  have 
risen  in  the  scale  of  civilization. 

"It  is  often  possible  to  tell  by  inspection  of  a  skull  what 
race  it  belongs  to.  The  narrow  cranium  of  the  negro  would 

not  be  mistaken  for  the  broad  cranium  of  the  Samoyed 

Taking  the  diameter  from  back  to  front  as  100,  the  cross- 
diameter  gives  the  so-called  index  of  breadth,  which  is  about 
70  in  the  Negro,  80  in  the  European,  and  85  in  the  Samoyed. 

The  Australian  and  African  are  prognathous  or  "forward 

jawed,'  while  the  European  is  orthognathous,  or  'upright- 
jawed.'  At  the  same  time  the  Australian  and  African  have 
more  retreating  foreheads  than  the  European,  to  the  disadvan- 
tage of  the  frontal  lobes  of  their  brain  as  compared  with  ours." 
('04,  pp.  60-62). 

G.  Stanley  Hall's  view  of  the  relative  mental  make-up  of 
the  negro  and  the  white  may  be  set  forth  in  the  following 


6  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

quotations :  "No  two  races  in  history,  taken  as  a  whole,  differ 
so  much  in  their  traits,  both  physical  and  psychic,  as  the 
Caucasian  and  the  African.  The  color  of  the  skin  and  the 
crookedness  of  the  hair  are  only  the  outward  signs  of  many 
far  deeper  differences,  including  cranial  and  thoracic  capacity, 
proportions  of  body,  nervous  system,  glands  and  secretions, 
vita  sexualis,  food,  temperament,  disposition,  character, 
longevity,  instincts,  customs,  emotional  traits  and  diseases. 
All  these  differences,  as  they  are  coming  to  be  better  under- 
stood, are  seen  to  be  so  great  as  to  qualify  if  not  imperil  every 
inference  from  one  race  to  another,  whether  theoretical  or 
practical,  so  that  what  is  true  and  good  for  one  is  often  false 
and  bad  for  the  other."  ('05,  p.  358). 

"Another  racial  trait  of  the  negro  is  found  in  the  sphere 
of  sexual  development.  Special  studies  show  that  the  negro 
child  up  to  about  twelve  is  quite  as  bright  as  the  white  child ; 
but  when  this  instinct  develops  it  is  earlier,  more  sudden, 
and  far  more  likely  permanently  to  retard  mental  and  moral 
growth  than  in  the  white  who  shoots  ahead.  Thus  the  virtues 
and  defects  of  the  negro  through  life  remain  largely  those  of 
puberty."  ('05,  p.  362). 

This  last  contention  of  Hall's,  that  the  negro's  develop- 
ment comes  to  what  is  at  least  a  partial  stand-still  at  puberty, 
occurs  in  the  writings  of  others  who  have  dealt  with  the  sub- 
ject. Tylor  has  already  been  quoted  on  this  point.  The  idea 
is  that  after  puberty  the  individual's  mental  life  broadens  and 
takes  on  new  aspects:  abstraction,  a  tendency  to  penetrate 
into  the  meanings  of  things,  the  power  to  perceive  relations, 
and  the  ability  to  appreciate  logical,  aesthetic  and  moral  situa- 
tions. Before  adolescence  a  child's  activities  are  mainly  the 
so-called  lower  mental  processes,  such  as  perception,  memory 
and  the  motor  responses.  The  negro,  being  the  lower  type, 
fails  to  attain  the  post-pubertal  traits  to  the  degree  that  the 
white  child  attains  them,  and  therefore  remains  permanently 
on  a  lower  level.  But  on  this  level,  and  in  the  traits  which 
constitute  it,  he  is  fully  the  equal  of  the  white  child.  Thus, 
while  he  cannot  reach  the  finer  elements  of  mental  attain- 
ment, the  negro  is  yet  the  equal  or  the  superior  of  the  white 
in  sense  capacity,  rote  memory,  objective  attentiveness,  motor 
control,  and  qualities  of  a  similar  nature.  Another  statement 
from  Hall  bears  upon  this :  "Mental  development  after  puberty 
is  much  more  uncertain  than  before.  The  first  twelve  years 


REVIEW  OF  WORK  PREVIOUSLY  DONE.  7 

of  life  represent  larger  and  more  fundamental  qualities. 
Adolescence  adds  a  new  story,  less  stable,  very  liable  to  arrest 

at  any  stage This  makes  nearly  the  whole  post-pubic 

period  critical,  peculiarly  exposed  to  dangers  from  without, 
because  it  is  so  plastic  and  susceptible,  and  still  more  so  be- 
cause the  growth  forces  that  push  youth  on  toward  maturity 
are  so  liable  to  show  signs  of  exhaustion  before  their  work  is 
finished.  Hence  it  follows  that  length  of  the  growing  period 
is  one  of  the  most  important  factors  in  development.  Lower 
races  often  stop  short  when  sexual  maturity  is  achieved." 
('03,  p.  811.)  In  this  connection,  Libby  ('08),  reporting  the 
result  of  an  experiment  in  which  he  had  white  high  school 
and  grammar  grade  pupils  write  compositions  descriptive  of 
a  certain  sentimental  picture,  states  that  the  feeling,  meaning 
and  sentiment  of  the  picture  were  grasped  only  by  pupils  older 
than  fourteen  years.  And  Ellison,  as  reported  by  Bagley  ('09) , 
says  that  children  below  the  age  of  thirteen  do  not  have 
abstract  ideas  such  as  would  enable  them  to  give  good  defini- 
tions. 

Odum  ('10,  pp.  36-37)  agrees  with  the  general  idea  repre- 
sented in  the  last  two  quotations  from  Hall:  "Negro  children 
are  easily  interested,  attentive,  eager  and  alert.  For  the  most 
part  they  are  bright  and  learn  easily.  In  many  cases  they  ap- 
pear brighter  than  white  children  of  the  same  age.  They 
learn  from  memory  easily  and  retain  little  things  for  some 

length  of  time They  learn   readily  to  do  things   by 

imitation  and  become  comparatively  skilful  in  a  short  time. 

However,  there  are  many  negro  children  who  have  an 

almost  total  lack  of  mental  perception,  whose  minds  are  so 
dense  that  they  can  scarcely  learn  anything.  The  percentage 
of  such  cases  increases  with  age."  This  author  makes  many 
statements,  without,  however,  giving  evidence  to  substantiate 
them,  to  the  effect  that  the  negro  child,  as  shown  by  experi- 
ments, is  brightest — i.  e.,  most  able  to  do  and  learn  simple 
things — at  thirteen  years  of  age,  and  that  he  is  of  greatest 
ability — i.  e.,  most  able  to  "grasp  and  hold  that  which  con- 
fronts the  mind" — at  eight  or  nine  years  of  age;  that  the 
negro's  mental  development  practically  ceases  at  the  age  of 
about  thirteen ;  that  there  is  an  almost  entire  absence  of  sexual 
morality  among  the  great  body  of  negroes,  children  and  adults, 
due  to  the  predominance  of  their  "physical  impulses  and 
pleasure-pain  feelings;"  that  the  more  primal  emotions,  fear, 


8  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

anger,  jealousy,  self -exaltation,  self -depreciation,  sorrow,  etc., 
are  especially  active  in  the  negro ;  that  dynamically  the  negro 
is  volatile,  easily  responsive  to  stimuli,  guided  by  present  im- 
pulses, unrestrained — in  short,  that  his  life  is  one  of  temporary 
emotion  rather  than  of  permanent  sentiment. 

A  recent  article  by  Bardin  ('13)  argues  that  there  must 
be  a  connection  between  racial  mental  differences  and  the 
physical  differences  between  races,  since  both  were  evolved 
together.  And  since  it  is  becoming  increasingly  evident  that 
the  negro  and  the  white  differ  mentally,  we  must  therefore 
suppose  that  there  are  corresponding  neural  differences,  as 
marked,  in  their  way,  as  are  the  external  physical  signs  of  race, 
such  as  skin,  hair  texture  and  facial  angle.  From  this  posi- 
tion the  writer  contends  that  in  attempting  to  modify  the 
negro's  mind  while  yet  keeping  him  a  physical  negro  we  are 
undertaking  the  impossible.  "It  follows,  therefore,  that  pres- 
ent ideals  in  regard  to  the  solution  of  our  Negro  problem 

are  biologically  fallacious,  and  impossible  of  attainment.  We 
can  never  make  the  Negro  like  the  white  man  mentally.  We 
can  never  have  a  bi-racial  state  based  upon  an  identity  of 
ideas  and  political  philosophies  in  both  races."  ('13,  p.  374). 
This  contention  is  almost  identical  with  that  quoted  above 
from  Le  Bon. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  estimates  of  the  intelligence 
of  the  negro  was  made  by  Francis  Galton  ('92).  In  a  study 
of  the  relative  capacity  of  the  white  and  negro  races  he  divided 
each  race  into  sixteen  defined  grades  of  ability,  eight  above 
and  eight  below  its  racial  average,  and  considered  that  the 
intervals  separating  the  grades  were  equal  throughout.  After 
a  survey  of  eminent  men  of  each  race  he  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  ablest  negro  ranked  two  grades  below  the  ablest 
white.  Then,  by  an  application  of  the  "law  of  deviation  from 
an  average,"  he  held  that  negroes  as  a  race  have  two  degrees 
of  ability  less  than  Europeans.  Another  way  of  expressing  it 
is  to  say  that  the  difference  between  negroes  and  whites 
in  intellectual  capacity  is  about  one-eighth  of  the  difference 
between  the  most  eminent  man  and  the  lowest  idiot.  Galton 
then  goes  on  to  point  out  that  the  experiences  of  travelers 
among  native  tribes  and  the  prevalence  among  negroes  of 
feeble  intellects  furnish  confirmation  of  his  estimate. 

After  a  survey  of  the  available  evidence  of  racial  mental 
differences,  Thorndike  ('10,  pp.  67-68)  sums  up  as  follows: 


REVIEW  OF  WORK  PREVIOUSLY  DONE.  9 

"From  all  these  facts  each  student  may  make  his  own  esti- 
mate of  the  original  mental  differences  of  races,  and  learn  at 
least  the  need  of  more  actual  measurements  of  race  differences 
and  of  intelligence  in  interpreting  them.  My  own  estimate  is 
that  greater  differences  will  be  found  in  the  case  of  the  so- 
called  'higher'  traits,  such  as  the  capacity  to  associate  and  to 
analyze,  thinking  with  parts  or  elements,  and  originality,  than 
in  the  case  of  the  sensory  and  sensori-motor  traits,  but  that 
there  will  still  be  very  great  overlapping.  Calling  the  differ- 
ence between  the  original  capacity  of  the  lowest  congenital 
idiot  and  that  of  the  average  modern  European  100,  I  should 
expect  the  average  deviation  of  one  pure  race  from  another 
in  original  capacity  to  be  below  10  and  above  1,  and  the  differ- 
ence between  the  central  tendencies  of  the  most  and  the  least 
gifted  races  to  be  below  50  and  above  10.  I  should  consider 
3  and  25  as  reasonable  guesses  for  the  two  differences." 

Experimental  Studies 

From  these  studies  and  opinions  of  a  non-experimental 
nature  we  may  turn  to  those  which  are  based  upon  quantita- 
tive investigation.  The  first  attempt  at  a  quantitative  study 
of  the  negro  with  which  the  writer  is  familiar  is  that  by  Bache, 
published  in  1895.  This  investigator  starts  with  the  assump- 
tion that  the  more  inferior  the  race,  the  quicker  the  reaction 
time.  "That  the  negro  is,  in  the  truest  sense,  a  race  inferior 
to  that  of  the  white  can  be  proved  by  many  facts,  and  among 
them  by  the  quickness  of  his  automatic  movements  as  com- 
pared with  those  of  the  white."  ('95,  p.  481).  The  results 
of  the  tests  on  twelve  whites,  eleven  Indians  and  ten  negroes 
showed  the  whites  to  be  the  slowest  and  the  Indians  to  be  the 
quickest  with  auditory,  visual  and  electrical  stimulation.  The 
speed  of  the  negroes  was  roughly  midway  between  that  of  the 
Indians  and  the  whites.  The  writer  explains  that  the  reason 
the  negroes  were  slower  than  the  Indians  was  that  they  were 
of  mixed  white  and  negro  blood  and  had  inherited  the  effects 
of  slavery,  while  the  Indians'  mode  of  life  compelled  them  to 
rely  upon  quick  movement.  This  explanation  is  offered  to 
strengthen  the  writer's  contention  that  the  Indian  is  a  higher 
race  than  the  negro,  and  consequently  should  have  a  slower  re- 
action time.  The  study  is  hardly  conclusive;  the  numbers 
tested  were  too  small,  and  the  variabilities  of  the  average  re- 


10  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

action  times  are  not  given.     Certainly  the  initial  assumption 
was  not  proved  by  the  tests. 

Smith  made  some  association  and  memory  tests  upon  a 
"typical"  negro  boy  sixteen  years  of  age.  The  nature  of  the 
tests  is  not  given,  nor  are  the  results  set  forth.  The  author's 
general  conclusion,  plainly  unwarranted  on  the  basis  of  the 
work  done,  is  as  follows:  "The  negro  child  is  psychologically 
different  from  the  white  child.  In  automatic  power  he  is 
superior,  but  in  the  power  of  abstraction,  of  judgment  and 
analysis  he  is  decidedly  inferior.  This  fact  must  be  recognized 
in  the  school  training."  ('96,  p.  60). 

Stetson  ('97)  gave  a  memory  test  to  five  hundred  white 
and  five  hundred  colored  children  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  grades 
of  the  schools  of  Washington,  D.  C.  The  average  age  of  the 
white  children  was  11  years;  the  average  age  of  the  colored 
children  was  12.57  years.  The  test  was  somewhat  crude.  It 
consisted  in  reading  to  the  children  four  verses  of  four  lines 
each,  explanations  of  the  verses  being  given  and  the  class  re- 
peating them  twice  in  concert.  Later  the  verses  were  repro- 
duced orally  to  the  experimenter  by  each  child,  and  the  repro- 
ductions were  scored  as  being  100,  75,  50,  or  25  per  cent,  cor- 
rect. The  results  showed  that  the  negroes  were  superior  to 
the  whites  in  memory  of  three  of  the  verses,  while  the  whites 
were  superior  in  memory  of  one.  The  average  score  for  the 
four  verses  was:  Whites,  58.09;  Colored,  58.27.  In  other 
words,  there  was  practically  no  difference  in  memory  capacity 
between  the  two  races.  But  in  school  studies  the  average 
rank  of  the  white  children  was  74.32,  while  the  average  rank 
of  the  colored  was  64.73.  This  superiority  of  the  whites  in 
school  work  led  the  author  to  conclude  that  the  negroes  were 
deficient  in  reasoning  power,  since  the  test  showed  that  they 
were  not  deficient  in  memory.  This  conclusion,  of  course,  is 
subject  to  criticism  on  the  ground  that  a  number  of  other  fac- 
tors may  have  been  responsible  for  the  academic  inferiority 
of  the  colored  children. 

McDonald  studied  91  colored  children  by  means  of  physical 
and  mental  tests.  His  conclusions  are  summarized  as  fol- 
lows :  "Among  the  boys  and  girls  the  per  cent,  of  long  heads 
is  much  greater  after  puberty  than  before.  This  is  also  true 
of  white  boys  but  not  of  white  girls.  The  colored  boys  are 
more  sensitive  to  heat  and  locality  after  puberty  than  before. 
The  reverse  is  true  with  the  white  boys,  but  the  colored  girls, 


REVIEW  OF  WORK  PREVIOUSLY  DONE.  11 

like  the  white  girls,  are   less  sensitive   after  puberty 

Colored  children  are  much  more  sensitive  to  heat  than  white 

children Colored  girls  have  larger  circumference  of 

head  at  all  ages  than  white  girls White  children,  rela- 
tively to  their  height,  are  longer  bodied  than  colored  children. 
The  percentage  of  long-headedness  among  colored  boys  is  more 
than  double  that  of  white  boys."  ('99,  pp.  1141-1143).  The 
writer  states  that  from  a  table  based  on  teachers'  estimates 
of  the  brightness,  dullness  and  mediocrity  of  colored  children, 
(number  indefinite),  it  appears  that  the  percentage  of  bright 
children,  both  boys  and  girls,  increases  rapidly  between  the 
ages  of  seven  and  eight,  and  continues  to  increase  slightly 
until  the  age  of  thirteen.  From  thirteen  to  sixteen  the  per- 
centage of  bright  pupils  decreases  rapidly.  It  would  seem 
that  the  results  of  this  work  should  be  verified  by  other  inves- 
tigators before  being  accepted.  The  chances  for  error  in  the 
mental  tests  used  are  considerable,  and  the  composition  of 
the  various  groups  tested  is  not  quite  clear. 

The  foregoing  experimental  studies,  all  of  which  were 
made  prior  to  1900,  emphasize  the  need  of  a  careful  technique 
in  the  quantitative  handling  of  this  question.  The  opportuni- 
ties for  error  are  very  great,  and  in  inexperienced  hands 
psychological  tests  and  statistical  methods  may  lead  to  results 
that  are  worse  than  useless.  A  field  as  little  worked  and  as 
inviting  as  this  of  the  comparative  psychology  of  the  white  and 
the  negro  is  likely  to  attract,  and  has  attracted,  investigators 
who  lack  the  necessary  training — just  as  it  has  attracted  theo- 
rists who  were  not  adequately  grounded  in  the  essentials  of 
their  work.  One  would  not  be  far  wrong  in  saying  that  all  of 
the  experimental  work  done  on  the  psychology  of  the  negro 
prior  to  1900  is  of  practically  negative  value. 

In  summarizing  the  status  of  scientific  race  psychology 
in  1910,  Woodworth  writes  as  follows:*  "One  thing  the 
psychologist  can  assert  with  no  fear  of  error.  Starting  from 
the  various  mental  processes  which  are  recognized  in  his  text- 
books, he  can  assert  that  each  of  these  processes  is  within 
the  capabilities  of  every  group  of  mankind.  ....  Statements 
to  the  contrary,  denying  to  the  savage  powers  of  reasoning, 

*The  work  reviewed  by  Woodworth  was  that  by  himself,  Bruner, 
anke,  Rivers,  McDougall  and  Myers.  This  work  had  to  do  almost  ex- 

iively  with  the  sense  capacities  of  primitive  groups,  and  the  sum- 
mary by  Woodworth  makes  it  unnecessary  to  give  a  further  account  of 
it  here. 


12  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

or  abstraction,  or  inhibition,  or  foresight,  can  be  dismissed  at 
once.  If  the  savage  differs  in  these  respects  from  the  civilized 
man,  the  difference  is  one  of  degree,  and  consistent  with  over- 
lapping of  savage  and  civilized  individuals."  ('10,  pp.  3-4). 

Woodworth  then  goes  on  to  discuss  the  evidence  in  regard 
to  the  several  sense  capacities.  Natives  of  Brazil,  the  steppe- 
dwelling  Kalmucks,  Papuans,  Indians,  Filipinos  and  other  races 
have  been  tested  for  visual  acuity,  and  found,  on  the  whole, 
to  have  vision  superior  to  that  of  the  average  white,  but  the 
overlapping  between  the  whites  and  these  races  is  great. 
"We  may  perhaps  conclude  that  eyesight  is  a  function  which 
varies  somewhat  in  efficiency  with  difference  of  race,  though 
with  much  overlapping It  did  not  seem  possible,  how- 
ever, to  assert  anything  like  a  correspondence  between  eye- 
sight and  the  degree  of  primitiveness  or  backwardness  of  a 
people.  ....  Even  if  small  differences  do  exist,  it  is  fairly 
certain  that  the  wonderful  feats  of  distant  vision  ascribed 
to  savages  are  due  to  practice  in  interpreting  slight  indications 
of  familiar  objects."  ('10,  pp.  5-6).  In  the  case  of  hearing, 
the  tests  indicate  that  whites  are  superior  to  primitive  peoples. 
This  superiority  may  be  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  the  ears 
of  civilized  man  are  better  protected  from  injuries  than  are 
those  of  savages,  and  that  the  meatus  is  kept  cleaner  by  the 
white  man.  Then,  too,  the  white  is  more  familiar  with  the 
sorts  of  sound  used  in  the  tests  than  is  the  savage,  and  on  this 
account  may  detect  them  more  readily.  The  few  tests  that 
have  been  made  for  keenness  of  smell  show  no  higher  acuity 
among  negroes  and  Papuans  than  among  Europeans.  In  ability 
to  discriminate  two  points  on  the  skin  the  evidence  is  conflict- 
ing ;  on  the  whole  there  is  probably  no  appreciable  -superiority 
in  favor  of  any  of  the  races  tested.  The  experiments  which 
have  been  made  to  determine  the  acuity  of  the  pain  sense  are 
largely  vitiated  by  the  fact  that  savages  and  civilized  men 
have  different  standards  as  to  what  constitutes  pain.  "On  the 
whole,"  says  Woodworth,  "the  keenness  of  the  senses  seems 
to  be  about  on  a  par  in  the  various  races  of  mankind." 
('10,  p.  7).  In  reaction  time,  speed  of  tapping  and  suscepti- 
bility to  illusions,  the  tests  seem  to  indicate  that  the  different 
races  are  about  equal. 

In  discussing  tests  for  intelligence  as  opposed  to  sensory 
and  motor  capacity,  the  writer  points  out  that  the  form-board 
is  the  only  test  of  intelligence  which  has  been  used  with  differ- 


REVIEW  OF  WORK  PREVIOUSLY  DONE.  13 

ent  races.  "This  test  was  tried  on  representatives  of  several 
.  races,  and  considerable  differences  appeared.  As  between 
whites,  Indians,  Eskimos,  Ainus,  Filipinos  and  Singhalese,  the 
average  differences  were  small,  and  much  overlapping  occurred. 
As  between  these  groups,  however,  and  the  Igorot  and  Negrito 
from  the  Philippines  and  a  few  reputed  Pygmies  from  the 
Congo,  the  average  differences  were  great  and  the  overlapping 
was  small.  Another  rather  similar  test  for  intelligence  which 
was  tried  on  some  of  these  groups,  gave  them  the  same  rela- 
tive rank.  The  results  of  the  test  agreed  closely  with  the 
general  impression  left  on  the  minds  of  the  experimenters  by 
considerable  association  with  the  people  tested.  And,  finally, 
the  relative  size  of  the  cranium,  as  indicated,  roughly,  by  the 
product  of  its  three  external  dimensions,  agreed  closely  in 
these  groups  with  their  appearance  in  intelligence  and  with 
their  standing  in  the  form  test.  If  the  results  could  be  taken 
at  their  face  value,  they  would  indicate  differences  of  intelli- 
gence between  races,  giving  such  groups  as  the  Pygmy  and 
Negrito  a  low  station  as  compared  with  most  of  mankind." 
CIO,  pp.  10-11). 

One  of  the  important  investigations  of  the  mental 
capacity  of  the  negro  is  that  by  Mayo  ('13),  who  studied  the 
school  marks  of  150  white  and  150  colored  high  school  pupils 
in  the  schools  of  New  York  City.  His  results  can  best  be 
given  in  his  own  words :  "To  summarize,  the  following  are  the 
leading  results  deduced  from  the  data  considered: 

"The  median  age  of  white  pupils  at  the  time  of  entering 
high  school  in  the  city  of  New  York  is  14  years  6  months;  of 
colored  pupils  15  years  1  month — a  difference  of  7  months. 
The  average -deviation  for  whites  is  9  months;  for  colored,  15 
months.  Twenty-seven  per  cent,  of  the  whites  are  as  old  as  the 
median  age  of  the  colored  or  older. 

"Colored  pupils  remain  in  school  a  greater  length  of  time 
than  do  the  whites.  For  the  cases  studied,  the  average  time 
spent  in  high  school  for  white  pupils  was  3.8  terms ;  for  col- 
ored, 4.5  terms.  About  28  per  cent,  of  the  whites  attain  the 
average  time  of  attendance  for  the  colored. 

"Considering  the  entire  scholastic  record,  the  median  mark 
of  the  150  white  pupils  is  66;  of  the  150  colored  pupils  62;  a 
difference  of  4  per  cent.  The  average  deviation  of  white  pupils 
is  7 ;  of  the  colored  6.5.  Twenty-nine  per  cent,  of  the  colored 
pupils  reach  or  surpass  the  median  mark  of  whites. 


14  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

"The  white  pupils  have  a  higher  average  standing  in  all 

subjects The  percentage  of  colored  pupils  reaching 

the  median  mark  of  the  whites  in  the  several  subjects  is  as 
follows:  Modern  languages,  33;  mathematics,  32;  history,  31; 
the  sciences,  29;  Latin  and  Greek,  27;  English,  24;  the  com- 
mercial subjects,  22;  and  all  subjects  together,  29. 

"The  total  number  of  subjects  pursued  by  the  white  group 
was  2433;  the  total  number  of  subjects  passed  on  the  first 
trial  was  1855;  the  percentage  of  subjects  passed  being  76. 
The  total  number  of  subjects  pursued  by  the  colored  group 
was  2382;  the  total  number  of  subjects  passed  on  first  trial 
was  1379,  the  percentage  of  subjects  passed  being  58.  Inter- 
preting these  figures  as  a  measure  of  relative  scholastic 
efficiency,  the  efficiency  of  colored  subjects  is  76  per  cent,  of 
that  of  the  whites ;  that  is,  the  colored  pupils  are  about  %  as 
efficient  as  the  whites  in  the  pursuit  of  high  school  studies." 
('13,  pp.  44-45). 

These  results  are  significant  as  they  stand,  and  they  be- 
come still  more  so  when  it  is  considered  that  the  colored  pupils 
studied  were,  as  Mayo  points  out,  a  more  closely  selected  group 
than  the  whites.  How  much  more  closely  the  negroes  were 
selected  than  the  whites  is  not  known.  It  must  also  be  borne 
in  mind  that  the  colored  group  was  not  made  up  of  persons 
of  pure  negro  blood.  The  percentage  of  mulattoes  is  not 
stated,  but  it  is  probably  high.  And  the  presence  of  mulattoes 
considerably  raises  the  standard  of  negro  attainment,  as  will 
be  shown  in  a  later  chapter.  Another  consideration  tending 
to  emphasize  the  racial  differences  found  by  Mayo  is  that  the 
colored  pupils  with  whom  he  dealt  were  for  the  most  part 
either  emigrants  from  the  South  or  the  children  of  emigrants, 
and  that  they  therefore  probably  inherited  the  ability  and 
energy  which  leads  the  ambitious  negro  to  seek  to  better  his 
condition  in  the  North.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  difficult  to 
estimate  the  white  group  represented  in  this  study.  It  con- 
tained English,  Germans,  Irish,  Italians  and  Jews  in  indefinite 
numbers,  but  a  random  selection  of  whites  was  carefully  ob- 
served, and  the  group  is  probably  typical  of  the  white  high 
school  population  of  New  York. 

Phillips  ('12),  in  a  study  of  retardation  in  the  public  ele- 
mentary schools  of  Philadelphia,  found  percentages  of  re- 
tardation as  follows  in  schools  attended  entirely  by  colored 
pupils:  68.2,  60.6,  67.3,  70.9,  66.3,  72.8,  58.2,  59.3.  The  per- 


REVIEW  OF  WORK  PREVIOUSLY  DONE.  15 

centages  of  retardation  in  the  respective  school  districts  in 
which  these  eight  schools  were  situated  were  as  follows:  41.8, 
44.5,  45.1,  45.1,  37.2,  36.0,  36.0,  33.3.  In  other  words,  the  per- 
centage of  retardation  in  the  colored  schools  ranged  from  72.8 
to  58.2,  while  the  percentage  of  retardation  in  the  districts 
which  contained  these  schools  ranged  from  45.1  to  33.3.  The 
average  percentage  of  retardation  for  the  city  as  a  whole  was 
40.3.  Each  of  the  colored  schools  had  a  greater  percentage 
of  retardation  than  any  of  the  white  schools,  even  those  com- 
posed almost  entirely  of  foreigners,  and  in  those  schools  at- 
tended by  both  white  and  colored  pupils  the  percentage  of  re- 
tardation on  the  whole  varied  directly  with  the  percentage  of 
colored  pupils  in  attendance.  The  writer  concludes  by  saying : 
"It  is  a  question  whether  the  course  of  study  is  suited  to  the 
negroes,  as  the  educational  results  are  so  far  behind  those  in 
the  other  schools,  and  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  even  a 
liberal  interpretation  of  the  course  of  study  would  meet  the 
educational  necessities  of  this  group."  ('12,  p.  90). 

In  a  later  article  ('14),  Phillips  reports  the  results  of  an 
attempt  to  ascertain  the  causes  of  this  retardation  by  means 
of  an  application  of  the  Binet  tests  to  white  and  colored  chil- 
dren of  the  same  chronological  age  and  home  conditions,  the 
tests  being  made  in  all  cases  by  the  same  individual.  "Forty 
colored  girls  and  46  colored  boys,  totaling  86,  were  tested  by 
the  Binet  scale ;  75  white  girls  and  62  white  boys,  totaling  137, 
were  likewise  tested.  The  home  of  each  of  these  223  pupils 
was  visited  and  the  home  conditions  noted,  as  Excellent,  Good, 
Fair  and  Poor.  In  so  rating  the  home,  the  material  (money) , 
intellectual,  and  moral  elements  were  noted  in  making  up  the 
rating.  In  the  following  comparison  only  the  white  children 
of  excellent  home  conditions  are  compared  with  the  colored 
children  of  excellent  home  conditions ;  the  white  of  good  home 
conditions  with  the  colored  of  good  home  conditions,  and  so  on. 
This  method  of  procedure,  of  course,  necessitated  the  elimina- 
tion of  quite  a  number  of  those  tested,  so  that  our  final  com- 
parison was  made  on  29  each  of  colored  boys  and  girls  re- 
spectively." ('14,  p.  191). 

The  results  are  stated  as  follows :  " . . . .  we  see  that  of 
those  tested  37.9  per  cent,  of  the  white  boys  were  retarded, 
while  65.5  per  cent,  of  the  colored  boys  were  retarded;  that 
46.4  per  cent,  of  the  white  girls  were  retarded  and  71.4  per 
cent,  of  the  colored  girls  were  retarded;  and  that  42.1  per  cent. 


16  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

of  the  white  boys  and  girls  combined  were  retarded,  and  that 
68.4  per  cent,  of  the  colored  boys  and  girls  combined  were  re- 
tarded. This  makes  the  colored  boys  retarded  17.4  (27.6)* 
per  cent,  more  than  the  white  boys  ;  the  colored  girls  retarded 
25  per  cent,  more  than  the  white  girls;  while  the  total  rate 
of  retardation  of  both  groups  is  26.3  per  cent. 

"  ____  we  find  that  31  per  cent,  of  the  colored  girls  (boys)f 
are  accelerated  while  62  per  cent,  of  the  white  girls  (boys)f 
are  accelerated;  that  28.5  of  the  colored  boys  (girls)  f  are 
accelerated  and  53.5  per  cent,  of  the  white  boys  (girls)  ;f  and 
that  29.8  per  cent,  of  colored  boys  and  girls  are  accelerated 
and  57.8  per  cent,  of  both  white  girls  and  boys.  This  makes  a 
difference  in  the  acceleration  between  the  two  races  of  31  per 
cent,  in  favor  of  the  white  boys,  25  per  cent,  in  favor  of  the 
white  girls,  28  per  cent,  in  favor  of  the  white  pupils  with  boys 
and  girls  combined. 

"This  would  seem  to  corroborate  the  findings  in  the  case  of 
pedagogic  retardation.  We  see  in  every  group,  considering  the 
retardation  from  pedagogical  or  psychological  viewpoints,  that 
the  colored  pupils  are  retarded  from  20  to  30  per  cent,  more 
than  the  white  pupils,  and  that  the  white  pupils  are  always 
greatly  above  them  in  acceleration."  ('14,  pp.  191-195). 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  total  number  of  pupils 
tested,  including  those  eliminated  on  account  of  not  having 
comparable  home  conditions,  gives  practically  the  same  com- 
parative result  as  was  obtained  from  the  picked  group.  The 
percentage  of  retarded  pupils  in  the  total  colored  group  was 
54.6;  the  percentage  of  retarded  pupils  in  the  total  white 
group  was  24.  The  percentage  of  accelerated  pupils  in  the 
total  colored  group  was  6.9;  in  the  total  white  group  it  was 
20.4. 

The  author  concludes  as  follows:  "In  applying  the  Binet 
tests  to  colored  children  the  following  facts  of  interest  were 
fortunately  thrust  upon  our  attention.  In  the  first  place 
the  colored  pupils  as  a  class  were  good  in  the  memory  tests 
and  poor  in  those  requiring  judgment.  They  were  generally 

4.1.  *J«S  figur?  should  evidently  be  27.6  instead  of  17.4.  It  represents 
the  difference  between  the  percentages  of  retardation  of  white  and  col- 
ored boys,  which  are  65.5  and  37.9,  as  quoted,  and  also  as  given  in  the 
tables  which  accompany  the  article. 

fPhillips  seems  to  have  made  an  error  here.  In  order  to  make  the 
figures  agree  with  the  tables  from  which  they  are  taken,  and  also  with 


, 

£e  Differences  m  acceleration  as  quoted,  the  words  "boys"  and  "girls" 
should  be  interchanged  as  indicated  by  the  brackets. 


REVIEW  OF  WORK  PREVIOUSLY  DONE.  17 

slower  in  response.  The  testing  of  the  colored  children  took 
a  much  longer  time  than  the  white.  Their  reaction  time  was 
greater,  they  were  less  animated.  It  is  significant  to  note 
that  the  younger  white  children  were  more  advanced  than  the 
colored  children  of  the  same  age.  This  is  in  contradiction 
to  the  generally  accepted  fact  that  colored  children  are  quicker 
when  young. 

"If  the  Binet  tests  are  at  all  a  gauge  of  mentality  it  must 
follow  that  there  is  a  difference  in  mentality  between  the  col- 
ored and  the  white  children,  and  this  raises  the  question: 
Should  the  two  groups  be  instructed  under  the  same  cur- 
riculum?" ('14,  p.  196). 

The  first  application  of  the  Binet  tests  to  whites  and  ne- 
groes was  made  by  Strong,  and  was  reported  by  her  ('13)  and 
by  Morse  ('14).  Two  hundred  and  twenty-five  white  and 
125  colored  children  were  tested  in  the  schools  of  Columbia, 
S.  C.  The  percentage  of  children  testing  more  than  one  year 
below  age  was  10.2  for  the  white  and  29.4  for  the  colored. 
The  percentage  testing  more  than  one  year  above  age  was 
5.3  for  the  white  and  0.8  for  the  colored.  The  largest  group 
of  white  children  was  that  testing  at  age;  the  largest  group 
of  colored  children  was  that  testing  one  year  below  age. 

An  attempt  was  made  to  divide  the  white  children  into 
"city  children"  and  "mill  children,"  in  order  to  arrive  at  a 
conclusion  as  to  how  far  inferiority  in  the  tests  was  due  to 
poor  environment.  The  environment  of  the  mill  children  is 
of  considerably  lower  grade  than  that  of  the  city  children,  and 
is  not  markedly  different  from  that  of  the  negroes.  When 
this  division  was  made  the  results  showed  that  6  per  cent,  of 
the  city  children  were  more  than  one  year  below  age  while  18 
per  cent,  of  the  mill  children  were  more  than  one  year  back- 
ward. On  the  face  of  it,  then,  this  would  indicate  that  the 
comparatively  poor  showing  made  by  the  negroes  was  in  large 
measure  due  to  poor  home  conditions.  But  in  fact  it  leaves 
the  question  still  open.  For  while  mill  children  may  have  ad- 
verse environment,  they  may  also  have  poor  native  capacity 
due  to  their  poor  heredity.  Their  unfavorable  surroundings 
may  be  the  product  of  a  lack  of  inheritable  capacity  in  their 
parents. 

This  criticism  applies  to  all  attempts  to  determine  the  in- 
fluence of  environment  upon  people  whose  heredity  is  not 
known  to  be  alike.  And  yet  such  efforts  are  made  with 


18  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

seemingly  increasing  frequency.  It  should  be  remembered 
that  poor  achievement,  in  psychological  tests  or  in  any  other 
activity,  may  be  accompanied  by  inferior  social  condition  and 
yet  not  be  the  product  of  that  condition.  The  achievement 
and  the  condition  may  both  result  from  one  and  same  cause, 
lack  of  native  capacity.  In  such  matters  as  are  sought  by 
all,  such  as  the  ordinary  facilities  of  life  and  intercourse  accord- 
ing to  the  prevailing  standards,  it  is  very  probable  that  native 
capacity  determines  the  relative  attainment  of  men  within 
any  large  and  homogeneous  unit  of  mankind.  And  it  is  very 
probable  that  the  presence  of  poor  home  environment  among 
any  considerable  group  of  our  population  is  due  to  a  compara- 
tive absence  of  ability  in  that  group  as  a  whole.  This  ab- 
sence is  inherited  by  the  offspring  of  that  group.  Errors  due 
to  a  neglect  of  this  consideration  need  to  be  especially  guarded 
against  in  psychological  investigations  which  aim  to  study 
environmental  influence. 

Strong  divided  the  negroes  tested  by  her  into  classes 
on  the  basis  of  degree  of  skin  pigmentation.  She  says:  "The 
children  were  divided  into  three  groups  according  to  color. 
This  classification  was  not  a  scientific  one,  and  the  statement 
of  results  may  be  entirely  worthless.  There  were  34  dark 
children,  35  medium  in  color,  and  43  light  colored  in  this 
classification,  122  in  all.  Of  the  dark  colored,  14.4  per  cent, 
tested  below  age,  76.7  per  cent,  tested  at  age,  and  8.8  above 
age.  Of  the  next  group,  somewhat  lighter  in  color,  31.1  per 
cent,  tested  below  age,  62.2  at  age,  and  6.6  per  cent,  above  age. 
Of  the  lightest  group  44.2  tested  below  age,  44.2  at  age,  and 
11.6  above  age.  The  darkest  children  are  more  nearly  normal, 
the  lightest  show  the  greatest  variation,  both  above  and  below 
normal."  (13,  p.  506). 

Morse  comments  upon  the  tests  as  follows:  "In  general  it 
may  be  said  that  the  colored  children  excel  in  rote  memory, 
e.g.,  in  counting,  repeating  digits  (but  not  one  was  able  to  re- 
peat 26  syllables),  naming  words,  making  rhymes  and  in  time 
orientation.  They  are  inferior  to  the  whites,  however,  in 
aesthetic  judgment,  observation,  reasoning,  motor  control, 
logical  memory,  use  of  words,  resistance  to  suggestion  and  in 
orientation  or  adjustment  to  the  institutions  and  complexities 
of  civilized  society."  ('14,  p.  78).  With  reference  to  peda- 
gogical retardation,  he  writes :  " according  to  the  Binet 

scale,  a  larger  number  of  white  children  are  in  a  school  grade 


REVIEW  OF  WORK  PREVIOUSLY  DONE.  19 

below  their  mental  ability  than  above,  whereas  the  reverse  is 
true  of  the  colored  children."     ('14,  p.  78) . 

In  reviewing  this  study,  Bruner  says:  "The  tables  show 
another  interesting  point  on  which  the  author  makes  no  com- 
ment. At  the  ages  of  six,  seven  and  eight  just  about  twice 
as  many  negro  children  as  white  rate  below  age,  whereas  for 
the  ages  of  ten,  eleven  and  twelve  the  superiority  of  the  whites 
over  the  negroes  is  but  slight.  This  suggests  that  the  rate 
of  maturing  may  be  more  rapid  with  the  negro  children,  so 
as  to  make  them  older,  mentally,  at  the  age  of  twelve  than 
white  children  of  the  same  age."  ('14,  p.  385). 

A  study  of  the  learning  capacity  of  whites  and  negroes 
was  made  by  Baldwin  ('13).  A  somewhat  elaborate  substi- 
tution test  was  used  five  minutes  a  day  for  sixteen  days  with 
37  white  and  30  colored  delinquent  adolescent  girls.  Their 
ages  ranged  from  13  to  21  years.  "Fourteen  other  negro 
girls  were  too  feeble  mentally  to  perform  the  tests  after  the 
initial  instructions  although  they  worked  assiduously  for  the 
period  of  three  weeks,  and  three  white  girls  failed  to  do  50 
per  cent,  of  the  work  correctly."  ('13,  p.  317).  From  the 
summary  of  the  results :  "In  this  type  of  learning  it  is  found 
that:  1.  Comparing  the  amount  of  work  done  by  the  thirty- 
seven  white  girls  with  the  work  done  by  the  thirty  negroes 
who  accomplished  more  than  50  per  cent,  of  correct  results, 
it  is  evident  that  the  negroes  are  decidedly  inferior.  The 
white  girls  made  72.3  substitutions  as  a  general  average,  the 
negroes  55.8.  The  negroes  accomplished  62.4  per  cent,  as 
much  work  as  the  white  girls  and  made  245.3  per  cent,  as 
many  errors.  Practically  all  the  superior  negroes  in  the  school 
were  included  in  the  test. 

"2.  The  learning  capacity  of  delinquent  negro  girls  differs 
quantitatively  and  qualitatively  from  that  of  the  white  girls, 
and  the  educational  corollary  follows  that  different  methods 
of  instruction  and  training  are  required  for  the  negro  girls 
than  for  the  white  girls."  ('13,  pp.  331-332) . 

QnJbhe-W-hole  the  inferiority  of  the  negroes  was  about  the 
same  in  both  absolute  amount  of  work  done  and  in  learning 
capacity.  The  negroes  as  compared  with  the  whites  were 
slow  to  warm  up,  quick  to  lose  interest,  difficult  to  stimulate 
except  through  flattery,  irregular,  moody,  vacillating  in  atten- 
tion, inaccurate,  envious  of  each  other's  progress,  given  to 


20  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

mumbling,  grumbling,  humming,  saying  funny  things  while 
at  work. 

A  study  of  this  kind  is  difficult  to  evaluate  in  its  bearing 
upon  normal  subjects.  The  girls  were  all  committed  to  an 
institution  as  delinquents,  and  their  mental  ability  was  proba- 
bly considerably  below  the  average.  Whether  both  races 
were  equally  below  the  average  is  not  known.  The  fact  that 
fourteen  negro  girls  could  not  work  the  test  at  all,  while  only 
three  white  girls  failed  to  complete  as  much  as  50  per  cent. 
of  the  work,  would  indicate  that  the  negroes  were  farther 
below  the  average  racial  ability  than  were  the  whites;  but 
this  is  not  conclusive.  That  the  test  failed  to  enlist  the  in- 
terest of  the  colored  girls  indicates  that  their  true  learning 
ability  was  not  measured.  But  this,  too,  is  of  doubtful  sig- 
nificance, since  the  very  fact  that  the  negroes  were  not  inter- 
ested as  were  the  whites  possibly  points  to  a  deficiency  in  the 
colored  group.  On  the  whole,  it  seems  safe  to  say  that  the 
test  is  probably  indicative  of  a  true  racial  difference,  though 
the  amount  of  such  difference  ?s  left  uncertain. 

Since  the  tests  to  be  described  in  the  following  chapters 
were  made,  there  has  appeared  a  preliminary  report  by  Pyle 
('15)  of  an  extensive  investigation  of  the  relative  mental 
capacity  of  whites  and  negroes.  This  investigator  tested  408 
colored  pupils,  from  eight  to  sixteen  years  of  age,  inclusive, 
in  the  public  schools  of  Columbia,  Mexico  and  Moberly,  three 
towns  in  Missouri,  using  a  number  of  standard  tests,  and  com- 
pared the  results  thus  obtained  with  the  norms  which  he  had 
previously  ascertained  for  white  children  in  the  same  tests. 
As  the  report  which  has  so  far  appeared  is  only  preliminary, 
it  is  impossible  to  go  into  detail  concerning  the  work  done,  but 
the  author's  words  may  be  quoted  to  indicate  the  main  out- 
lines of  this  valuable  research: 

"The  following  are  the  conclusions  to  which  the  work  so 
far  points In  general  the  marks  indicating  the  men- 
tal ability  of  the  negro  are  about  two-thirds  those  of  the 
whites.  The  negro  girls  approach  the  white  girls  in  ability 
a  little  more  closely  than  the  negro  boys  approach  white 
boys.  Negro  boys  and  girls  are  farther  apart  in  ability  than 
are  white  boys  and  girls.  In  both  races  the  girls  are  superior, 
if  the  average  performance  is  taken  as  the  basis  of  compari- 
son. With  increasing  age,  there  is  a  tendency  for  the  differ- 
ence between  whites  and  negroes  to  become  less.  This  ten- 


REVIEW  OF  WORK  PREVIOUSLY  DONE.  21 

dency  is  more  marked  with  boys  than  with  girls.  About  one- 
fifth  of  the  negroes  are  equal  or  superior  to  the  average 
of  the  whites,  while  three-fourths  of  the  whites  are  equal  or 
superior  to  the  average  of  the  negroes.  In  the  same  school 
grade,  the  negroes  are  several  months  older  than  the  whites. 
Negro  girls  have  the  best  permanent  memory  for  ideas  in  the 
eleventh  year.  The  same  is  true  of  white  girls.  Negro  boys 
have  the  best  permanent  memory  for  ideas  in  the  twelfth 
year  and  white  boys  in  the  thirteenth  year.  In  rote  memory 
the  negroes  have  a  much  better  memory  for  concrete  than 
for  abstract  words,  but  are  greatly  inferior  to  whites  in  both. 

"If,  for  purpose  of  comparison,  the  negroes  are  sep- 
arated into  two  groups  according  to  social  position,  it  is 
found  that  the  negro  boys  of  better  social  class  have  about 
four-fifths  of  the  ability  of  white  boys.  The  negro  girls  of 
better  social  position  have  an  ability  which  is  about  thret- 
fourths  that  of  white  girls.  Difference  in  social  position  has 
less  effect  on  negro  girls  than  on  negro  boys.  The  difference 
in  social  position  has  most  effect  on  tests  requiring  quickness 
in  learning,  quickness  in  controlled  association,  in  immediate 
and  permanent  logical  memory  and  in  constructive  imagina- 
tion as  measured  by  the  Ebbinghaus  test.  With  negro  chil- 
dren of  the  better  social  class  the  tendency  to  approach  the 
norm  of  white  children  is  more  marked.  In  the  substitution, 
controlled  association  and  Ebbinghaus  tests,  the  negroes  are 
less  than  half  as  good  as  whites.  In  free  association  and 
the  ink-blot  tests  they  are  nearly  as  good.  In  quickness  of 
perception  and  discrimination  and  in  reaction,  the  negroes 
equal  or  excel  the  whites. 

"At  all  ages,  the  physical  development  both  in  muscular 
strength  and  muscular  speed  is  nearly  the  same  for  negro 
boys  and  white  boys.  The  same  is  true  for  negro  girls  and 
white  girls  until  the  age  of  ten.  After  ten,  negro  girls  are 
stronger  than  white  girls,  but  white  girls  are  faster.  The 
negro  girls  are  stronger  probably  because  they  do  more  mus- 
cular work  than  white  girls  do.  Muscular  speed  seems  to  be 
little  affected  by  conditions  of  life  while  muscular  strength 
is  much  affected  by  them. 

"Perhaps  the  most  important  question  that  arises  in  con- 
nection with  the  results  of  these  mental  tests  is  this :  How  far 
is  ability  to  pass  them  dependent  upon  environmental  condi- 
tions? Our  tests  show  certain  specific  differences  between 


22  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

negroes  and  whites.  What  these  differences  would  have  been 
had  the  negroes  been  subject  to  the  same  environmental  in- 
fluences as  had  the  whites,  it  is  difficult  to  say.  The  results 
obtained  by  separating  the  negroes  into  two  social  groups 
would  lead  one  to  think  that  the  conditions  of  life  under  which 
the  negroes  live  might  account  for  the  lower  mentality  of  the 
negroes.  On  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  that  the  negroes 
living  under  the  better  social  conditions  are  of  better  stock. 
They  may  have  more  white  blood  in  them."  ('15,  pp.  357- 
360). 

Neurological  Studies 

It  is  assumed  everywhere  as  a  matter  of  course  that  men- 
tal differences  imply  neural  differences.  If  there  are  mental 
differences  between  two  races,  then  we  may  expect  to  find 
differences  in  the  nature  of  the  brain  structure  of  the  two 
races,  and  vice  versa.  The  comment  is  frequently  made  that 
apparent  differences  in  the  size  or  shape  of  the  brains  of 
given  racial  groups  must  indicate  corresponding  psychical 
divergencies.  Such  comment  has  been  quoted  in  some  of  the 
foregoing  abstracts,  notably  in  those  from  Boas,  Le  Bon  and 
Tylor.  If  there  is  a  racial,  or  individual,  inheritance  of  mind 
there  must  be  an  inheritance  of  appropriate  anatomy  and 
physiology. 

A  few  recent  investigators  have  attacked  this  problem  of 
racial  neural  differences.  In  Baltimore,  Bean  studied  the 
brains  of  103  negroes  and  49  Caucasians.  He  concludes  that, 
"Not  only  is  the  anterior  association  center  smaller  in  the 
Negro  than  in  the  Caucasian,  but  the  whole  frontal  lobe  of 
the  Negro  is  smaller."  ('06,  p.  374).  The  negro  stands  in 
an  intermediate  position  between  man  and  ourang  in  the  rela- 
tive size  of  his  frontal  to  his  parietal  and  occipital  lobes. 

Bean  then  goes  on  to  point  out  that  this  conclusion  is  in 
accord  with  well-known  traits  of  the  negro.  He  states,  citing 
Flechsig  as  authority,  that  the  anterior  association  center, 
which  is  comparatively  small  in  the  negro,  is  intimately  con- 
nected with  ideas  regarding  personality ;  the  relations  of  self, 
subjectively  and  objectively;  the  capacity  for  ethical  and 
aesthetic  judgment;  self-control,  especially  in  such  matters  as 
sexual  excitement,  anger  or  vexation;  will  power.  The  pos- 
terior association  center,  on  the  other  hand,  which  is  com- 
paratively large  in  the  negro,  is  more  intimately  connected 


REVIEW  OF  WORK  PREVIOUSLY  DONE.  23 

with  the  special  senses;  it  is  objective  and  concrete,  while  the 
anterior  center  is  subjective  and  abstract  in  the  mental 
processes  which  its  operation  accompanies.  "The  relative 
differences  found  in  the  association  centers  of  the  two  races  is 
suggestive  in  relation  to  the  known  characteristics  of  the 
two,  in  view  of  Flechsig's  work.  The  Caucasian  is  subjective, 

the  Negro  objective.  The  Caucasian is  dominant  and 

domineering,  and  possessed  primarily  with  determination,  will- 
power, self-control,  self-government,  and  all  the  attributes  of 
the  subjective  self,  with  a  high  development  of  the  ethical  and 
aesthetic  faculties.  The  Negro  is  in  direct  contrast  by  reason 
of  a  certain  lack  of  these  powers,  and  a  great  development 
of  the  objective  qualities.  The  negro  is  primarily  affectionate, 
immensely  emotional,  then  sensual  and  under  stimulation 
passionate.  There  is  love  of  ostentation,  of  outward  show,  of 
approbation ;  there  is  love  of  music,  and  capacity  for  melodious 
articulation;  there  is  undeveloped  artistic  power  and  taste 
—  Negroes  make  good  artisans,  handicraftsmen  —  and 
there  is  instability  of  character  incident  to  lack  of  self-control, 
especially  in  connection  with  the  sexual  relations ;  and  there  is 
lack  of  orientation,  or  recognition  of  position  and  condition  of 
self  and  environment,  evidenced  by  a  peculiar  bumptiousness, 
so-called,  that  is  particularly  noticeable.  One  would  naturally 
expect  some  such  character  for  the  Negro,  because  the  whole 
posterior  part  of  the  brain  is  large,  and  the  whole  anterior 
portion  small,  this  being  especially  true  in  regard  to  the 
anterior  and  posterior  association  centers."  ('06,  pp.  378- 
379). 

Further,  Bean  reports  that  he  found  the  ratio  of  the  corpus 
callosum  to  the  total  brain  weight  to  be  greater  in  the  Cau- 
casian than  in  the  negro,  the  anterior  end  of  the  corpus  cal- 
losum in  the  whites  being  relatively  large  when  compared 
with  its  posterior  end. 

In  weight,  the  51  negro  brains,  male,  averaged  1292  grams, 
while  the  37  white  male  brains  averaged  1341  grams;  the  28 
female  negro  brains  averaged  1108  grams,  while  the  9  white 
female  brains  averaged  1103  grams.  The  negroes  were  of  a 
higher  class  than  the  whites,  however,  and  mulattoes  were 
included  among  them. 

These  conclusions  of  Bean's  are  very  interesting,  but  they 
seem  to  need  further  confirmation  before  they  can  be  ac- 
cepted as  final.  Following  Bean,  Mall  ('09)  found  no  such 


24  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

definite  racial  differences.  He  states  that  the  brain  weight 
of  eminent  men  is  100  grams  above  that  of  men  in  general, 
and  that  the  average  white  man  has  a  brain  100  grams  heavier 
than  that  of  the  average  negro.  But  the  frontal  lobe  as  com- 
pared with  the  rest  of  the  brain  has  the  same  relative  weight 
in  both  negroes  and  whites,  male  and  female.  And  the  con- 
figuration of  negro  and  white  brains  is  the  same.  " with 

the  present  crude  methods  the  statement  that  the  negro  brain 
approaches  the  foetal  or  simian  brain  more  than  does  the 
white  is  entirely  unwarranted."  ('09,  p.  20).  "It  certainly 
would  be  important  if  it  could  be  shown  that  the  complexity 
of  the  gyri  and  sulci  of  the  brain  varied  with  the  intelligence 
of  the  individual,  that  of  the  genius  being  most  complex,  but 
the  facts  do  not  bear  this  out,  and  such  statements  are  only 

misleading brains  rich  in  gyri  and  sulci,  of  the  Gauss 

type,  are  by  no  means  rare  in  the  American  negro."  ('09, 
P.  24). 

This  investigator  reviews  the  previous  work  done  in  this 
field,  and  comes  to  the  final  conclusion  that  there  is  no  valid 
evidence  to  show  significant  brain  differences  from  the  point 
of  view  of  race,  sex  or  genius. 

Karl  Pearson  ('07),  after  a  study  of  the  heads  of  1000 
Cambridge  graduates  and  5000  school  children,  states  that  his 
results  corroborate  the  conclusions  of  previous  articles,  and 
sets  forth  his  findings  as  follows:  "The  average  correlation 
between  head  length  or  head  breadth  and  intelligence  is  .11. 
no  sensible  modification  is  made  in  this  result  if  allow- 
ance be  made  for  either  weight  or  stature."  But  "some  44 
per  cent,  of  very  able  men  have  heads  smaller  than  the  aver- 
age slow  man  and  some  44  per  cent,  of  slow  men  heads  larger 
than  the  average  specially  able  man.  This  order  of  numerical 
relationship  holds  for  the  whole  range  of  the  characters  dealt 
with,  and  in  view  of  it  we  see  how  idle  it  is  to  assert  that  head 
measurements  can  be  of  any  service  in  the  prediction  of  in- 
telligence  Differences  in  size  of  head  will  not  account 

for  at  most  1/12,  and  probably  not  as  much  as  1/20,  of  the 
observed  differences  of  capacity  whether  between  adults  or  be- 
tween children."  ('07,  p.  121). 

Hrdlicka  ('98)  investigated  the  physical  differences  be- 
tween 1100  white  and  300  negro  children,  and  found  that 
the  negro's  forehead  is  narrower  but  not  lower  than  that  of 
whites,  and  that  the  negro's  head  is  unusually  long  and  nar- 


REVIEW  OF  WORK  PREVIOUSLY  DONE.  25 

row,  while  the  heads  of  whites  are  of  all  shapes.  He  says 
the  negroes'  ears  are  smaller,  their  arms,  hands  and  feet 
longer,  and  their  chest  somewhat  deeper  than  is  the  case 
among  white  children.  The  weight  of  white  children  at  all 
ages  is  somewhat  greater  than  that  of  negroes,  but  the  negroes 
at  all  ages  and  of  both  sexes  are  three  or  four  pounds  stronger 
with  each  hand. 

Hrdlicka  also  finds,  as  did  Le  Bon  in  the  abstract  previ- 
ously given,  that  the  variation  among  the  whites  is  greater 
than  among  the  negroes.  "The  white  children  show  more 
diversity,  the  negro  children  more  uniformity  in  their  normal 
physical  characters.  This  fact  becomes  gradually  more 
marked  as  we  advance  with  the  age  of  the  children."  ('98, 
p.  476). 

it  is  impossible  to  make  an  adequate  summary  of  the 
views  set  forth  in  this  chapter;  the  abstracts  given  are  them- 
selves summaries.  But  it  is  clear  that  by  far  the  greater  num- 
ber of  writers  who  have  dealt  with  the  problem  of  the  rela- 
tive mental  ability  of  the  white  and  the  negro  take  the  view 
that  the  negro  is  inferior.  This  is  particularly  true  of  those 
investigators  who  have  used  quantitative  methods.  The 
negro  has  not  shown  the  same  capacity  as  the  white  when 
put  to  the  test  of  psychological  or  educational  experiment,  and 
the  racial  differences  revealed  have  been  considerable.  In  the 
higher  mental  processes  that  go  to  make  up  the  capacities 
necessary  to  a  successful  conduct  of  civilized  life,  the  negro 
seems  to  fall  short  to  a  far  greater  degree  than  in  the  ele- 
mentary traits  which  man  has  in  common  with  the  lower  ani- 
mals. In  sense  capacity,  in  instinct,  in  motor  ability,  there  is 
no  evidence  that  he  inferior  to  the  white  man.  It  is  in  such 
matters  as  reasoning  ability,  the  power  to  perceive  relations, 
to  exercise  creative  imagination,  to  subordinate  a  present  pas- 
sion to  a  distant  end,  that  the  weight  of  evidence  and  opinion 
indicates  his  relative  deficiency. 

With  regard  to  the  comparative  equality  of  white  and 
negro  children  up  to  the  age  of  adolescence  and  the  then  en- 
suing superiority  of  the  whites,  the  evidence  is  not  at  all  clear. 
The  theories  as  to  the  significance  of  adolescence  upon  which 
this  view  is  based,  have  themselves  undergone  restricting 
modification  in  very  recent  years,  and  the  whole  matter  is  at 
present  unsettled.  There  may  be  greater  differences  between 


26  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

white  and  negro  children  either  before  or  after  adolescence,  so 
far  as  is  known.  Or  adolescence  may  have  no  appreciable 
bearing  upon  ascertainable  racial  differences. 

The  question  of  differences  in  brain  structure  between  the 
two  races  is  likewise  subject  to  controversy.  It  seems  to  be 
indubitable  that  in  brain  size  there  is  a  difference,  but  the  in- 
ternal structure  of  the  brain,  which  is  far  more  significant  for 
intelligence  than  size,  is  as  yet  a  subject  for  debate  rather 
than  for  evidence  in  so  far  as  it  concerns  differences  between 
whites  and  negroes. 

The  abstracts  given  are  believed  to  include  all  of  the 
experimental  studies  and  a  fair  sampling  of  the  better  studies 
which  are  not  experimental.  It  is  probably  true  that  there  are 
more  people  who  believe  in  racial  mental  equality  than  the 
reviews  would  indicate;  equality  is  taken  for  granted,  as  in 
the  greater  part  of  our  school  system  and  in  our  political  life ; 
it  is  those  who  believe  in  racial  inequality  who  consider  their 
views  novel  enough  for  publication.  It  may  be  said  that 
the  main  conclusion  one  may  draw  from  a  study  of  the  litera- 
ture bearing  upon  the  mental  side  of  our  race  question  is  that 
we  have  taken  a  step  toward  its  solution,  but  that  the  problem 
is  still  a  problem. 

The  evidence  with  regard  to  the  relative  ability  of  pure 
negroes  and  mulattoes  will  be  discussed  in  Chapter  IV,  as  will 
that  bearing  upon  racial  variability. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  SUBJECTS  AND  THE  TESTS 
The  Subjects 

The  experiments  to  be  described  herein  were  made  in  De- 
cember, 1914,  upon  pupils  in  the  schools  of  Richmond,  Fred- 
ericksburg  and  Newport  News,  Virginia.  According  to  the 
Census  for  1910  ('10),  Richmond  has  a  population  of  127,628, 
of  whom  36  per  cent,  are  negroes;  Fredericksburg  has  a 
population  of  5874,  of  whom  25  per  cent,  are  negroes;  and 
Newport  News  has  a  population  of  20,205,  of  whom  36  per 
cent,  are  negroes.  In  the  State  as  a  whole,  32.6  per  cent,  of 
the  population  are  negroes.  The  white  inhabitants  of  these 
cities  are  to  a  very  large  extent  native  born  and  of  native 
parentage ;  in  the  state  as  a  whole  95.4  per  cent,  of  the  white 
population  is  native  born  and  of  native  parentage,  and  in 
these  cities  the  percentage  does  not  considerably  differ  from 
that  of  the  state. 

The  Census  shows  that  in  Richmond  1.2  per  cent,  of  the 
native  white  population  ten  years  of  age  and  over  are  illiterate, 
while  19.6  per  cent,  of  the  negroes  are  illiterate.  In  Fred- 
ericksburg the  corresponding  percentage  of  white  illiteracy 
is  1.5;  that  of  negroes  is  20.  In  Newport  News  the  per- 
centages are :  whites,  .6 ;  negroes,  12.  In  the  state  as  a  whole, 
8  per  cent,  of  the  white  population  and  30  per  cent,  of  the  col- 
ored population  are  illiterate.  It  is  thus  evident  that  the 
cities  have  a  smaller  percentage  of  illiteracy,  both  white  and 
colored,  than  the  state,  and  that  a  much  greater  proportion  of 
the  negroes  than  of  the  whites  is  illiterate. 

The  percentages  of  the  population  6-14  years  of  age  that 
attend  school  are  as  follows,  according  to  the  Census:  Rich- 
mond— native  whites,  79.2  per  cent.;  negroes,  65.2  per  cent. 
Fredericksburg — whites,  76  per  cent.;  negroes,  64  per  cent. 
Newport  News — whites,  76;  negroes,  69  per  cent.  In  the 

27 


28  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

state  as  a  whole  73.2  per  cent,  of  the  white,  and  58.7  per  cent, 
of  the  colored  population  6-14  years  of  age  attend  school.  It 
thus  appears  that  a  somewhat  larger  percentage  of  whites 
than  of  negroes  attend  school,  and  that  this  difference  between 
white  and  colored  school  attendance  is  only  slightly  less  in  the 
cities  than  in  the  state  at  large.  It  should  be  noted  that  there 
is  no  compulsory  education  law  in  any  of  the  cities  mentioned, 
and  that  only  an  inconsiderable  fraction  of  the  population  of 
the  state  attend  school  under  such  a  law. 

So  far  as  these  figures  show,  the  white  and  colored  popu- 
lations of  the  cities  in  which  the  tests  were  made  do  not  differ 
significantly  from  the  general  white  and  colored  populations 
of  Virginia.  The  negroes,  in  the  cities  and  in  the  state  at 
large,  attend  school  less  than  do  the  whites  in  proportion  to 
their  numbers  and  are  considerably  more  illiterate. 

This  last  consideration,  that  the  whites  attend  school  in 
larger  proportion  than  the  negroes,  and  that  the  negroes  are 
more  illiterate,  indicates  that  or.  the  whole  the  negroes  who 
do  attend  school  are  a  more  closely  selected  group  than  are 
the  whites  who  attend  school.  It  is  a  rarer  occurrence  for 
a  negro  to  become  educated.  The  school  selects  for  its  opera- 
tions a  more  circumscribed  group  of  negro  than  of  white  chil- 
dren. The  Richmond  School  Report  for  1912-13  (14) 
strengthens  this  conclusion. 

The  figures  in  the  report  show  that  of  the  total  white  school 
enrollment,  10.53  per  cent,  are  in  the  high  school ;  of  the  total 
colored  school  enrollment,  4.97  per  cent,  are  in  the  high  school. 
That  is,  that  out  of  an  equal  number  of  pupils  from  each  race, 
there  are  twice  as  many  white  as  colored  of  high  school  grade. 
If  we  compare  the  percentage  of  the  total  school  population, 
white  and  colored,  enrolled  in  elementary  and  in  high  schools, 
we  arrive  at  the  same  result.  Of  the  white  and  colored  school 
populations,  there  are  54  and  55  per  cent.,  respectively,  en- 
rolled in  the  elementary  schools;  but  there  are  7.5  per  cent, 
of  the  white  and  only  3.1  per  cent,  of  the  colored  school  popula- 
tion enrolled  in  the  high  schools.  The  same  percentage  of  the 
white  and  of  the  colored  school  populations  is  enrolled  in  ele- 
mentary schools,  but  there  is  twice  as  great  a  percentage  of 
the  white  as  of  the  colored  enrolled  in  high  schools.  Of  the 
colored  population  as  a  whole,  a  smaller  proportion  is  in  school 
as  compared  with  the  whites ;  and  of  those  in  school,  a  smaller 


THE  SUBJECTS  AND  THE  TESTS.  29 

proportion  is  in  high  school.  It  is  a  rarer  thing  for  a  colored 
than  for  a  white  child  to  attend  school  at  all;  it  is  a  much 
rarer  thing  for  a  colored  school  child  to  be  in  high  school. 
Colored  high  school  pupils  are  the  "chosen  few"  of  their  race 
to  a  greater  extent  than  are  white  high  school  pupils. 

The  nature  of  the  selective  factors  which  thus  act  more 
intensively  upon  negroes  than  upon  whites  as  the  school  grades 
advance  is  difficult  to  ascertain.  Among  the  causes  of  elimina- 
tion from  school  are  such  matters  as  poor  health,  poverty, 
mental  or  moral  deficiency,  lack  of  ambition  or  energy.  It 
would  seem  that  these  forces,  in  the  long  run,  must  select  for 
survival  in  the  school  system  those  who  by  reason  of  their 
own  capacity,  as  represented  in  themselves  and  in  the  inherit- 
able traits  which  prompt  and  enable  their  parents  to  send  them 
to  school,  are  best  fitted  to  make  progress  in  academic  work. 
It  would  seem  that  the  school  must  select  as  well  as  train 
those  who  have  greatest  ability  and  who  thus  profit  most  by 
school  attendance.  That  this  is  true  in  the  case  of  the  high 
school's  selection  of  negro  pupils  is  especially  indicated  by  the 
following  considerations. 

The  figures  for  retardation  in  the  schools  of  Richmond 
are  as  follows:  In  the  white  elementary  schools,  51.8  per 
cent,  of  the  pupils  are  above  the  normal  age  for  their  grade; 
in  the  colored  elementary  schools,  75.0  per  cent,  of  the  pupils 
are  above  the  normal  age  for  their  grade.  While  in  the  white 
high  school  52.1  per  cent,  of  the  pupils  are  above  the  normal 
age  for  their  grade,  and  in  the  colored  high  school,  55.8  per 
cent,  of  the  pupils  are  above  normal  age.  The  colored  elemen- 
tary pupils  are  23.2  per  cent,  more  retarded  than  are  the  white 
elementary  pupils;  the  colored  high  school  pupils  are  only 
3.7  per  cent,  more  retarded  than  are  the  white  pupils  of  their 
grade.  It  is  evident  that  the  pupils  who  do  not  accomplish 
what  is  expected  of  their  age  drop  out  of  the  negro  schools 
before  high  school  is  reached  to  a  greater  extent  than  out 
of  the  white  schools.  Indeed,  while  it  appears  from  the  figures 
that  the  colored  pupils  who  are  eliminated  from  the  school  sys- 
tem are  those  who  do  not  perform  the  work  of  their  age,  it  does 
not  appear  that  this  is  true  of  the  whites.  It  would  almost 
seem  that  whereas  the  negro  goes  to  high  school  by  reason 
of  his  ability  and  determination,  the  white  goes  on  account 
of  some  other  incentive,  such  as,  perhaps,  social  pressure 
or  the  custom  of  his  class.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  con- 


30  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

elude  on  the  basis  of  the  figures  for  retardation  that  one  of 
the  selective  factors  which  operate  to  a  greater  extent  upon 
colored  than  upon  white  pupils  is  inability  to  do  the  school  work 
expected  of  their  age.  In  this  connection  it  should  be  re- 
called that  Phillips,  in  a  study  reviewed  in  Chapter  I,  found 
the  relative  percentages  of  white  and  colored  retardation  in 
the  elementary  schools  of  Philadelphia  to  be  about  the  same 
as  those  found  here ;  and  that  his  investigations  with  the  Binet 
tests  showed  that  the  greater  pedagogical  retardation  of  the 
colored  pupils  was  paralleled  by  their  greater  psychological 
retardation. 

When  we  divide  the  elementary  school  into  primary  and 
grammar  grades,  we  find  that  35  per  cent,  of  the  white  ele- 
mentary pupils  are  in  the  grammar  grades,  while  only  21  per 
cent,  of  the  colored  elementary  pupils  are  in  these  grades. 
This  is  in  confirmation  of  our  conclusion  that  the  higher  grades 
have  a  larger  percentage  of  the  white  than  of  the  colored 
children.  But  when  we  divide  the  high  school  into  two  parts, 
consisting  of  the  first  and  second  and  the  third  and  fourth 
years,  respectively,  we  find  a  different  situation.  Twenty- 
five  per  cent,  of  the  white  high  school  pupils  are  in  the  third 
and  fourth  years  combined,  while  28  per  cent,  of  the  colored 
high  school  pupils  are  in  the  third  and  fourth  years  com- 
bined. Here  we  have  a  larger  proportion  of  colored  than  of 
white  pupils  in  the  upper  years.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  Mayo,  in  a  quotation  previously  given,  found  the  same 
situation  in  the  high  schools  of  New  York.  The  colored  pupils 
studied  by  him  remained  in  school  longer  than  did  the  white 
pupils.  It  seems  that  after  the  high  school  is  reached,  selec- 
tive factors  eliminate  a  larger  percentage  of  white  pupils  than 
of  colored. 

This  tends  to  corroborate  the  view  expressed  above,  that 
the  negro  who  enters  high  school  does  so  because  of  his  ability 
and  determination,  whereas  the  white  high  school  pupil  often 
enters  by  reason  of  social  pressure,  custom,  or  the  tradition  of 
his  race.  There  is  a  marked  difference  between  the  work  of 
the  high  school  and  that  of  the  elementary  school.  One  of 
the  problems  of  modern  education  is  to  lessen  the  gap  between 
the  two.  Within  either  school  the  work  of  a  given  grade  is 
not  much  more  difficult  than  the  work  of  the  grade  below  it. 
But  the  first  year  of  the  high  school  is  much  more  difficult  than 
the  last  year  of  the  elementary  school.  This  increased  diffi- 


THE  SUBJECTS  AND  THE  TESTS.  31 

culty  causes  a  large  number  of  the  less  capable  pupils  to  drop 
out  of  high  school  at  the  end  of  the  first  or  second  year.  A 
larger  proportion  of  white  than  of  colored  pupils  so  drop  out 
because  a  greater  proportion  of  white  than  of  colored  entered 
without  serious  purpose  or  the  requisite  ability.  The  negroes 
who  enter  high  school  are  a  more  closely  selected  group,  and 
they  therefore  more  nearly  finish  the  course.  The  figures 
show  that  the  percentage  of  retardation  in  the  colored  high 
school  is  the  same  for  the  first  two  years  and  for  the  last  two 
years ;  in  the  white  high  school  there  is  a  considerably  greater 
percentage  of  retardation  in  the  first  two  years  than  in  the 
last  two. 

Another  fact  which  bears  upon  the  relative  action  of  selec- 
tive factors  upon  white  and  colored  children  in  the  public 
schools  is  that  a  much  larger  proportion  of  white  than  of 
colored  pupils  of  high  school  grade  are  not  enrolled  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  at  all,  but  attend  private  institutions.  This  is  par- 
ticularly true  in  Richmond;  and  on  the  whole  the  pupils  who 
attend  private  schools  are  of  better  social  standing,  and 
therefore,  on  the  whole,  probably  of  greater  ability,  than  the 
average  of  the  school  population.  The  public  high  school  thus 
loses  a  number  of  pupils  of  ability,  and  this  loss  is  not  felt  by 
the  colored  high  school  as  it  is  by  the  white. 

Taken  all  together,  the  facts  brought  out  show  that  the 
colored  child  in  the  schools  of  Richmond,  in  the  upper  grades 
and  especially  in  the  high  school,  is  much  more  closely  selected 
by  reason  of  his  ability  than  is  the  white  child.  We  should 
therefore  expect  the  colored  pupils  of  advanced  grade  to  attain 
a  higher  score  in  psychological  tests  than  those  of  lower  grade, 
when  compared  with  white  pupils.  This  we  shall  find  to  be 
true.  And  we  shall  also  find,  in  marked  confirmation  of  the 
present  contention,  that  colored  high  school  pupils  excel  col- 
ored elementary  pupils  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  white 
high  school  pupils  excel  those  of  lower  grades.  Phillips,  Strong 
and  Pyle,  (see  Chapter  I),  found  the  mental  difference  be- 
tween whites  and  negroes  to  become  less  as  the  grades  ad- 
vance. The  explanation  of  their  findings  is  probably  to  be 
found  in  this  matter  of  selection.  It  seems  likely  that  if  one 
could  test  a  random  and  not  an  educational  selection  of  whites 
and  negroes,  he  would  not  find  the  difference  between  the 
races  to  decrease  with  age.  And  it  appears  to  be  certain  that 
racial  mental  differences  discovered  by  means  of  tests  upon 


32  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

school  children  are  in  reality  smaller  than  the  actual  differ- 
ences between  the  races. 

The  detailed  figures  for  the  school  systems  of  Fredericks- 
burg  and  Newport  News  are  not  available,  but  there  is  no 
reason  for  believing  they  would  point  to  a  different  conclu- 
sion from  that  found  in  Richmond.  The  Richmond  figures 
are  much  more  reliable  than  those  of  the  other  two  cities 
would  be  since  they  are  based  upon  a  far  greater  number  of 
pupils.  It  may  be  said  that  the  Richmond  figures  are  derived 
from  the  records  of  12,018  white  and  6184  colored  children. 

The  number  of  pupils  tested  in  these  experiments  was  as 
follows:  In  Richmond,  269  white  and  319  colored;  in  Fred- 
ericksburg,  84  white  and  63  colored;  in  Newport  News,  133 
white  and  39  colored.  In  all,  there  were  486  white  and  421 
colored  pupils — a  total  of  907.  The  Richmond  pupils  were 
in  the  three  years*  of  the  grammar  school  and  the  four  years 
of  the  high  school;  in  the  grammar  grades  there  were  149 
white  and  175  colored ;  in  the  high  school  there  were  120  white 
and  144  colored.  The  Fredericksburg  pupils  were:  white,  36 
in  the  6A  and  7A  grades  and  48  in  the  high  school;  colored, 
28  in  the  6A  and  7A  grades  and  35  in  the  high  school.  In 
Newport  News  all  of  the  pupils  tested  were  in  the  grammar 
grades:  133  white,  in  grades  6B,  7A  and  7B;  and  39  colored 
in  grades  6A  and  7A.  Throughout  the  study  main  reliance 
will  be  placed  upon  the  results  obtained  from  Richmond,  on 
account  of  the  greater  number  of  pupils  tested  there;  the  re- 
sults from  Fredericksburg  and  Newport  News  will  be  used  as 
corroborative.  It  may  be  remarked  that  in  all  ways  the  only 
difference  between  the  results  from  the  three  cities  is 
that  those  obtained  from  Fredericksburg  and  Newport  News 
emphasize  the  racial  differences  found  to  a  somewhat  greater 
degree  than  do  those  from  Richmond. 

The  high  schools  tested  in  Richmond  were  the  John  Mar- 
shall, white,  and  the  Armstrong,  colored.  These  are  the  only 
high  schools  in  Richmond.  In  the  John  Marshall  High  School 

*The  elementary  school  in  Virginia  covers  only  seven  years.  The  first 
four  years  are  the  primary,  the  last  three  are  the  grammar.  The  gram- 
mar grades  are  5A,  5B,  6A,  6B,  7A,  7B.  In  the  high  school  there  are 
four  years,  and  the  grades  are  1A,  IB,  2A,  2B,  3A,  3B,  4A,  4B.  "A" 
means  the  first  half  of  a  year;  "B"  means  the  second  half  of  a  year. 


THE  SUBJECTS  AND  THE  TESTS.  33 

there  are*  1394  pupils,  535  boys  and  859  girls;  in  the  Arm- 
strong High  School  there  are  76  boys  and  257  girls,  a  total  of 
333.  The  elementary  schools  tested  were  the  Madison,  white, 
and  the  George  Mason,  colored.  These  were  chosen  because 
in  the  opinion  of  the  school  authorities  their  pupils  were  fairly 
typical  of  the  average  white  and  colored  populations  of  the 
city.  The  Madison  School  has  871  pupils,  398  boys  and  473 
girls;  the  George  Mason  School  has  849  pupils,  360  boys  and 
489  girls.  All  four  schools  are  parts  of  the  public  school 
system. 

In  Fredericksburg,  the  white  pupils  tested  were  in  attend- 
ance upon  the  one  public  school  building  for  whites  in  the 
city.  The  colored  elementary  pupils  were  in  the  colored  public 
school.  But  the  colored  high  school  pupils  were  in  a  private 
school  conducted  by  colored  people,  since  the  city  does  not 
maintain  a  colored  high  school.  This  private  school  conforms 
closely  in  all  essential  respects  to  the  requirements  for  public 
high  schools,  and  its  pupils  may  be  fairly  compared  with  those 
in  the  public  schools. 

In  Newport  News,  the  white  pupils  were  in  the  John  W. 
Daniel  School  and  the  colored  pupils  were  in  the  John  Mar- 
shall School.  These  schools  were  typical  of  the  schools  for 
the  two  races,  in  the  opinion  of  the  school  authorities.  No 
high  school  pupils  were  tested  in  Newport  News,  since  there 
is  no  colored  high  school. 

In  selecting  the  pupils  from  the  various  schools  for  the 
tests,  in  some  instances  the  only  grade  of  a  given  degree  of 
advancement  in  the  school  was  tested;  in  other  instances, 
where  choice  had  to  be  made  among  several  grades  of  a  given 
degree  of  advancement,  the  school  authorities  selected  a  grade 
of  average  ability ;  in  still  other  instances,  where  it  was  neces- 
sary to  test  only  part  of  a  given  grade,  the  selection  of  pupils 
was  made  by  taking  them  in  alphabetical  order  from  the  roll. 
By  these  means  it  is  believed  that  the  selection  of  pupils  for 
the  tests  was  made  a  fair  one  in  all  of  the  schools. 

That  the  schools  themselves  were  comparable  as  between 
the  two  races  there  is  no  valid  reason  to  doubt.  All  of  them 
pursued  the  same  general  course  of  study ;  within  a  given  city 
all  were  parts  of  the  same  system,  with  the  exception  of  the 
colored  high  school  in  Fredericksburg.  The  teachers  and 

*These  are  the  figures  for  1912-'13.  The  present  figures  are  not 
available,  but  they  do  not  differ  significantly  from  those  given. 


34 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 


principals  of  the  colored  schools  were  colored  in  Fredericks- 
burg  and  Newport  News.  In  Richmond,  the  colored  elemen- 
tary school  had  colored  teachers  and  a  white  supervising 
principal  ;  the  colored  high  school  had  white  teachers  through- 
out. No  difference  could  be  perceived  in  the  attitude  of  the 
two  races  toward  the  tests:  both  white  and  colored  seemed 
to  enjoy  the  work  rather  than  the  reverse,  and  both  worked 
with  vigor. 

The  number  of  pupils  tested  is  set  forth  in  detail  in  Tables 
1  and  2.  In  the  treatment  of  results,  no  account  is  taken 
of  a  record  from  only  one  pupil,  and  the  two  lowest  and  the 
two  highest  ages  are  disregarded  on  account  of  the  small 
number  of  pupils  in  them. 


TABLE  I. 
NUMBER  OF   SUBJECTS  TESTED  —  CLASSIFIED  BY  AGE  AND  SEX 


Ages 9 

White  Boys.     1 
White  Girls.    .. 

Col.  Boys 1 

Col.  Girls 2 


Richmond. 
10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  Total* 


1  12  15  20  31  17  11  18 


White  Boys.    .. 
White  Girls.   .. 

Col.  Boys 

Col.  Girls. . 


White  Boys . 
White  Girls. 
Col.  Boys... 
Col.  Girls.. 


11 
6 


18  21  27  18  16  20 
14  19  18  16  14   9 


9  22  34  42  27  33  23  15 


131 
138 
107 
212 


Fredericksburg. 

3 

2 

7 

11 

7 

6 

6 

3     

45 

1 

6 

6 

7 

6 

6 

5 

2     

39 

1 

3 

2 

1 

3 

5 

1 

2      4     .... 

22 

1 

9 

10 

3 

2 

10 

2211 

63 

Newport 

News. 

3 

15 

20 

12 

5 

55 

5 

18 

25 

23 

4 

2 



77 

1 

2 

4 

1 

g 

7 

'e 

12 

3 

3 

.  . 

.  . 

31 

Grades 
White   . 
Colored 


White 
Colored 


TABLE  II. 
NUMBER  OF  SUBJECTS  TESTED — CLASSIFIED  BY  GRADES 

Richmond. 

5A     5B    6A    6B    7A    7B     1A  2A  2B    3A  4A  Totals 

38      35      19      21      18      18      30  29  35  26  269 

....42      38      35      22      19      19      42  31  21      25  25  319 


White  . 
Colored 


Fredericksburg. 

20  ..      16      ..      14      12 

21  ..        7      ..      10       9 

Newport  News. 

..      59      40      34 
23  16 


11      11 
8       8 


84 
63 


133 
39 


THE  SUBJECTS  AND  THE  TESTS.  35 

A  fact  should  be  noted  in  comparing  the  results  from  the 
white  and  the  colored  high  schools  of  Richmond.  The  white 
pupils  in  each  of  the  four  years  tested  were  in  the  first,  or 
"A",  half  of  the  year's  work.  The  colored  pupils,  however, 
on  account  of  the  way  they  are  classified  in  the  school,  were 
in  both  the  first  and  the  second,  the  "A"  and  the  "B",  halves 
of  each  of  the  four  years  work.  To  state  it  in  another  way, 
the  white  high  school  pupils  were  in  grades  1A,  2A,  3A  and 
4A;  while  the  colored  high  school  pupils  with  whom  they  are 
compared  were  in  grades  1A  and  IB,  2A  and  2B,  3A  and  3B, 
and  4 A  and  4B.  Thus  the  colored  pupils  were  farther  ad- 
vanced academically  than  were  the  white  pupils  in  each  of 
the  four  years.  For  the  sake  of  simplicity  the  high  school 
grades  for  both  white  and  colored  are  put  down  as  "A"  grades 
in  the  tables.  But  this  is  somewhat  unfair  to  the  white 
pupils,  since  the  colored  were  in  both  "A"  and  "B"  grades 
in  about  equal  numbers. 

The  ages  of  the  grades  tested  are  shown  in  Table  3,  and 
the  difference  in  ages  between  the  two  races  is  shown  in 
Table  4.  The  colored  pupils  are  older,  grade  for  grade.  In 
Richmond,  the  difference  is  .36  of  a  year,  in  Fredericksburg 
it  is  1.02  years,  and  in  Newport  News  it  is  1.7  years.  The 
difference  as  shown  for  Richmond  should  be  reduced  somewhat 
on  account  of  the  fact  that  the  colored  high  school  pupils  are 
in  reality  more  advanced  in  grade  than  the  tables  would  indi- 
cate, as  was  pointed  out  in  the  preceding  paragraph.  Stetson, 

TABLE  III. 
AGES  OF  THE  GRADES  TESTED 

Richmond. 

Grades                            5A     5B     6A     6B     7A  7B     1A     2A     2B     3A     4A 

White    Av 12.4  12.5  13.4  13.2  13.3  13.6  14.4  15.4      ..   16.5  17.0 

A.D 1.1     1.1     1.4       .9     1.0  .9       .9     1.1      ..       .8       .5 

Col.    Av 12.3  12.8  12.7  13.5  14.0  14.5  14.9  16.2  16.5  16.8  17.6 

A.D 1.0       .9       .8     1.0       .9  .8       .7       .8     1.0       .7     1.1 

Fredericksburg. 

White  Av. .  .  12.5  .  13.6  .  14.4  15.6  . .  16.2  16.9 

A.D 9  ..  .9  ..  .8  1.0  ..  .7  .5 

Col.  Av 13.2  ..  14.0  ..  15.4  17.2  ..  17.3  18.2 

A.D 1.0  ..  .9  ..  1.6  1.0  ..  .9  1.2 

Newport  News. 
White  Av 12.8  12.6  13.6      

A.D 1.0       .8       .6 

Col.  Av 13.0      ..   14.3      

A.D 1.0      ..       .8      


36  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

TABLE  IV. 

AGES — DIFFERENCE  IN  YEARS  BETWEEN  THE  WHITE  AND  THE  COLORED 

SUBJECTS  TESTED 

(Minus  signs  indicate  that  the  colored  subjects  are  of  greater  age.) 

Richmond. 

Grs.5A      5B       6A       6B       7A       7B       1A       2A       3A       4A       Av.     P.E. 
.1     _.3         .7     _.3     —.7     —.9  —  .5  —  .8  —  .3  —  .6  —  .36        .09 

Fredericksburg. 
. .     —.7        . .     —.4        . .  —1.0  —1.6  —1.1  —1.3  —1.02        .11 

Newport  News. 
—1.7        —1.7 

Mayo,  Phillips  and  Pyle,  (see  Chapter  I),  also  found  that  the 
colored  children  tested  by  them  were  appreciably  older  than 
white  children  of  the  same  school  grade,  and  this  is  indicated 
by  school  censuses  in  general,  (see  Mayo,  '13). 

This  age  difference  is  significant  as  showing  that  colored 
pupils  are  less  advanced  than  white  pupils  in  school  work. 
But  it  is  not  important  in  a  comparison  of  the  standing  of 
the  two  races  in  mental  tests,  if  the  comparison  is  made  by 
both  age  and  grade.  When  the  scores  are  compared  by  ages, 
the  white  pupils  in  the  comparison  will  be  of  higher  school 
grade;  when  they  are  compared  by  grades,  the  colored  pupils 
will  be  of  greater  age.  In  the  former  case  any  possible  ad- 
vantage will  be  on  the  side  of  the  whites;  in  the  latter  case 
it  will  be  on  the  side  of  the  colored  pupils.  If  success  in  the 
tests  is  not  dependent  upon  school  training,  it  is  obvious 
that  an  age  comparison  is  the  better.  But  if  success  in  the 
tests  does  depend  upon  school  training,  a  comparison  by  grades 
is  to  be  preferred.  Where  the  influence  of  school  training 
upon  standing  in  the  tests  is  unknown,  a  comparison  by  both 
age  and  grade  would  seem  to  be  advisable.  In  this  mono- 
graph the  results  in  all  of  the  tests  are  set  forth  by  both  ages 
and  grades,  but  evidence  will  be  brought  forth  to  show  that 
ability  to  perform  the  tests  is  not  appreciably  dependent  upon 
school  training,  and  consequently  the  age  comparisons  are  the 
more  reliable.  A  comparison  by  ages,  indeed,  is  to  be  pre- 
ferred to  one  by  grades  in  all  serious  investigations  of  racial 
mental  differences.  For  a  grade  is  essentially  a  group  of 
people  selected  because  they  are  much  alike  in  capacity.  And 
a  mental  test  which  is  dependent  upon  academic  training 


THE  SUBJECTS  AND  THE  TESTS.  37 

must  be  comparatively  worthless  as  an  index  of  true  racial 
ability. 

The  Tests 

The  tests  employed  in  this  investigation  were  selected  pri- 
marily with  a  view  to  ascertaining  racial  differences  in  the 
higher  rather  than  in  the  lower  intellectual  capacities.  It 
is  in  the  higher  capacities  that  men  are  supposed  to  differ 
most.  And  it  is  these  capacities  that  are  of  greatest  influence 
in  determining  their  relative  achievement.  The  investiga- 
tions previously  made  and  the  views  previously  held  indicate 
that  there  are  no  considerable  group  differences  in  sensation, 
in  motor  control,  in  native  retentiveness.  The  differences  to 
which  evidence  has  pointed  have  been,  on  the  side  of  intellect 
as  opposed  to  feeling,  in  such  abilities  as  those  included  under 
the  terms  constructive  imagination,  the  apprehension  of  mean- 
ing, reasoning  power.  These  latter  traits  divide  mankind 
into  the  able  and  the  mediocre,  the  brilliant  and  the  dull,  and 
they  determine  the  progress  of  civilization  more  directly  than 
do  the  simple  and  fundamental  powers  which  man  has  in  com- 
mon with  the  lower  animals.  While  testing  these  traits,  it  was 
thought  advisable  at  the  same  time  to  employ  certain  tests 
of  lower  capacity  for  the  sake  of  comparison. 

The  tests  used  were  the  Woodworth  and  Wells  Mixed 
Relations,  I  and  II;  a  form  of  the  Ebbinghaus  Completion 
Test;  a  Cancellation  Test;  and  one  of  the  Columbia  Maze 
Tests.  A  test  of  immediate  memory  was  also  given,  but  the 
results  from  it  were  discarded.  In  this  test  the  series  of 
digits  to  be  remembered  were  presented  orally  by  the  ex- 
perimenter, and  some  of  the  pupils,  both  white  and  colored, 
undoubtedly  wrote  down  the  numbers  surreptitiously  as  they 
were  called,  instead  of  waiting  until  after  the  series  were 
finished.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  evidence  of  this  occurs 
more  frequently  in  the  results  from  the  lower  than  from  the 
higher  grades,  and  more  frequently  in  the  colored  than  in  the 
white  schools.  A  possible  "study  of  dishonesty"  is  suggested. 

The  mixed  relations  test,  in  its  various  forms,  has  been 
used  by  a  number  of  investigators,  and  has  been  highly  recom- 
mended as  a  test  of  intelligence.  Wyatt  ('14),  in  a  study 
undertaken  in  order  to  determine  reliable  intelligence  tests, 
found  correlations  of  .80  and  .62  between  the  mixed  relations 
test  and  careful  subjective  estimates  of  intelligence,  in  two 


38  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

groups  of  subjects.  He  also  found  a  correlation  of  .85  be- 
tween the  mixed  relations  and  completion  tests,  and  states 
that  these  two  tests  correlate  more  highly  with  intelligence 
than  do  any  of  the  thirteen  other  tests  employed  by  him, 
and  that  they  also  correlate  more  highly  with  the  other  tests 
as  a  whole.  Vickers  and  Wyatt  ('13)  attempted  to  deter- 
mine suitable  tests  for  assigning  children  to  school  grades, 
and  found  the  mixed  relations,  completion  and  hard  opposites 
to  be  most  satisfactory.  The  correlations  between  the  mixed 
relations  test  and  intelligence,  (intelligence  being  defined  as 
adaptability  to  new  conditions),  were  .51,  .61,  .64  and  .86 
with  four  different  classes  of  children.  The  reliability  of  the 
test,  as  measured  by  its  correlation  in  repeated  trials,  was 
high,  the  average  correlation  between  the  trials  being  .70. 
Burt  ('11)  found  a  correlation  of  .52  with  intelligence,  and  a 
coefficient  of  reliability  of  .92.  He  recommends  the  test, 
along  with  the  completion  test,  as  being  an  excellent  indica- 
tion of  ability  in  logical  inference  or  reasoning. 

The  particular  form  of  the  test  as  used  is  the  one  de- 
signed and  standardized  by  Woodworth  and  Wells  ('11),  its 
originators.  It  consists  of  two  parts,  numbered  I  and  II,  and 
is  in  reality  two  separate  tests.  The  parts  are  of  equal  dif- 
ficulty and  the  twenty  relations  in  each  part  differ  as  little 
in  difficulty  as  it  was  possible  to  make  them.  The  test  is 
printed  in  full  in  the  appendix,  as  are  the  others  used  in  this 
investigation. 

It  is  always  difficult  to  state  just  what  mental  function  is 
experimented  upon  by  a  given  test.  The  various  traits  so 
overlap  and  are  so  dependent  upon  one  another  in  their  action 
that  no  one  trait  can  be  completely  isolated.  If  a  test  cor- 
relates well  with  other  tests  of  the  same  or  related  perform- 
ances, it  may  be  taken  as  a  reliable  index  of  ability  in  the 
functions  involved,  although  the  specific  functions  themselves 
cannot  be  definitely  and  exhaustively  described.  Most  tests 
are  so  regarded.  But  within  limits  it  is  possible  to  state 
approximately  the  functions  that  are  tested.  The  mixed 
relations  test  is  primarily  one  of  controlled  association  of  the 
sort  that  is  the  basis  of  all  efficient  reasoning.  It  demands 
that  a  relation  be  perceived  and  applied;  and  then  that  an- 
other and  a  different  relation  be  perceived  and  applied,  and  so 
on  through  the  test.  A  simple  test  of  controlled  association, 
such  as  the  opposites  test,  requires  that  a  mental  set  or 


THE  SUBJECTS  AND  THE  TESTS.  39 

determining  tendency  be  previously  formed  at  the  instance  of 
the  experimenter,  and  then  applied  unchanged  to  stimuli  as 
they  occur.  The  mixed  relations  test  goes  further  than  this, 
and  requires  that  the  mental  set  itself  be  determined  by  the 
subject  before  it  is  applied,  and  that  a  different  mental  set 
be  fixed  for  each  stimulus.  It  involves  what  James  ('92)  has 
called  "sagacity",  and  requires  association  by  similarity,  the 
perception  of  meaning,  voluntary  control  of  ideas.  Wood- 
worth  and  Wells  state  that  the  test  measures  skill  in  hand- 
ling associates  by  means  of  a  determining  tendency;  mental 
alertness  and  flexibility;  that  it  is  a  "logical  relations"  test. 
It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  functions  involved  are  those  most 
intimately  concerned  in  that  successful  handling  of  material 
which  distinguishes  the  intelligent  and  mentally  active  indi- 
vidual from  the  unintelligent  and  dull.  The  language  factor 
is  of  course  present,  but  where  the  words  used  are  simple 
and  well  known,  this  is  not  important  in  a  test  of  individual 
or  group  differences.  (See  Simpson,  '12,  p.  69ff.). 

The  completion  test  was  invented  by  Ebbinghaus  ('97), 
and  has  been  widely  used.  Wyatt  ('14),  as  mentioned  above, 
recommends  the  test  as  one  of  intelligence;  he  finds  correla- 
tions of  .85  and  .61  with  subjectively  estimated  intelligence 
in  two  classes  of  school  pupils.  Vickers  and  Wyatt  ('13) 
found  correlations  of  .82,  .88,  .76  and  .82  with  intelligence  in 
four  groups  of  subjects.  And  they  found  correlations  of  re- 
liability of  .84,  .87,  .66  and  .69  in  successive  trials  with  the 
four  groups.  Burt  ('11),  using  two  forms  of  the  test,  found 
correlations  with  intelligence  of  .48  and  .53.  Brown  ('11) 
states  that  the  test  correlated  .43  and  .69  with  general  intel- 
ligence in  two  groups  of  subjects.  Simpson  ('12)  found  a 
correlation  of  .92  for  reliability.  Correlations  between  the 
completion  and  a  number  of  other  tests  used  by  him  were: 
hard  opposites,  .92;  easy  opposites,  .75;  memory  of  words, 
.92;  memory  of  passages,  .91;  cancellation,  .68;  adding,  .71; 
geometrical  forms,  .54 ;  learning  pairs,  .72 ;  completing  words, 
.50;  drawing  lengths,  .26;  estimating  lengths,  .52.  A  cor- 
relation of  .67  between  the  completion  test  and  the  average 
of  nine  other  varieites  of  association  tests  was  reported  by 
Whitley  ('11). 

The  form  of  completion  test  herein  used  is  composed  of  the 
twenty-five  separate  sentences  which  constitute  sentences  23 
to  47,  inclusive,  of  a  completion  test  designed  by  Mr.  M.  E. 


40  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

Trabue*,  of  Columbia  University.  These  sentences  are  grad- 
uated in  difficulty,  and  have  been  standardized  by  Trabue  in 
experiments  upon  several  thousand  school  children.  Numbers 
23  to  47  were  selected  because  they  were  well  adapted  in  diffi- 
culty for  use  with  the  school  grades  to  be  tested.  A  comple- 
tion test  in  the  form  of  separate  sentences  has  several  advan- 
tages over  one  in  paragraph  form,  such  as  has  generally  been 
used.  Where  a  paragraph  is  employed,  accidental  factors  are 
much  more  likely  to  influence  the  result.  The  subject  of  the 
paragraph  may  be  relatively  unfamiliar  to  any  given  pupil; 
or  one  unusually  difficult  part  of  the  whole  may  render  the 
completion  of  a  large  section  of  the  rest  unduly  difficult.  This 
cannot  occur  where  there  are  a  number  of  separate  sentences 
dealing  with  different  subjects  and  each  counting  as  a  unit. 
Then,  too,  in  scoring  it  is  probably  better  to  score  on  the  basis 
of  sentences  than  of  words.  Thought  proceeds  by  judgments, 
whole  sentences,  not  by  words.  And  in  a  test  of  thought 
power  rather  than  of  language  power  one  should  be  able  to 
gauge  the  apprehension  of  meaning  as  a  whole  rather  than 
what  is  perhaps  the  more  distinctively  literary  ability  re- 
quired to  fit  a  word  into  a  specific  context.  It  is  thought,  not 
its  vehicle,  that  it  is  to  be  measured.  The  ability  to  use  language 
must  probably  remain  a  factor  in  this  test,  though  not  the 
most  important  factor  where  the  material  is  familiar.  Thought 
and  language  are  largely  implications  of  each  other,  and  in 
great  measure  ability  in  one  means  ability  in  the  other.  But 
as  far  as  possible  the  language  factor  should  be  elminated 
and  the  thought  factor  emphasized. 

The  mental  functions  measured  by  the  completion  test  are 
akin  to  those  involved  in  the  mixed  relations  test.  "Tnis  is  in- 
dicated by  the  high  correlation  between  the  two.  Ebbing- 
haus  ('97)  described  it  as  essentially  a  test  of  intelligence, 
requiring  the  ability  to  combine  separate  impressions  into  a 
coherent  whole.  Simpson  ('12)  calls  it  a  test  of  selective 
thinking.  Whitley  ('11)  classes  it  among  her  association 
experiments.  It  would  seem  that  the  ability  to  perceive  rela- 
tions, to  apprehend  meaning,  to  control  association  in  order  to 
fill  a  gap,  is  implied  in  a  successful  performance  of  the  test. 
Association  or  selective  thinking  or  intelligence  are  perhaps 
equally  good  terms  to  apply  to  the  processes.  In  the  language 

*Since  the  above  was  written  a  preliminary  account,   (Trabue,  '15), 
of  this  test  has  been  published. 


THE  SUBJECTS  AND  THE  TESTS.  41 

of  popular  speech,    the  test    requires    "good  sense"    and    a 
"quick  mind". 

The  maze  test  employed  is  the  so-called  straight  maze  de- 
signed and  used  at  Columbia  University.  This  has  been 
found  (see  Whitley,  '11)  to  be  the  most  satisfactory  form  of 
maze  test.  It  is  comparatively  easy  to  score,  and  the  eye 
strain  resulting  from  its  use  is  negligible  as  compared  with 
certain  other  forms  of  maze.  A  correlation  of  .49  was  found 
by  Whitley  between  the  straight  and  the  average  of  three 
other  varieties  of  the  test.  Simpson  ('12),  using  a  scroll  maze, 
found  a  coefficient  of  reliability  of  .76  for  the  test  and  a  co- 
efficient of  correlation  of  .26  with  the  average  of  twelve  tests 
of  intellectual  functions. 

The  traits  measured  are  quickness  and  accuracy  of  move- 
ment in  drawing  a  line  between  the  two  sides  of  the  maze 
without  touching  them — motor  as  opposed  to  intellectual 
abilities. 

The  concellation  test  is  the  familiar  "A  Test",  designed 
by  Cattell  and  Farrand  ('96).  It  is  a  regulated  pied  text, 
and  contains  one  hundred  A's  and  sixteen  of  each  of  the  other 
letters — five  hundred  capital  letters  in  all.  The  test  has  been 
used  by  many  investigators  and  in  a  variety  of  forms,  such  as 
the  "A— T"  test,  the  "E— R"  test,  etc.;  and  it  has  been 
described  as  a  test  of  various  functions.  Pillsbury  ('08)  says 
it  is  one  of  the  best  tests  of  degree  of  attention.  Whipple 
('10)  agrees  that  this  is  one  of  its  main  features.  Bourdon 
('95)  used  it  to  measure  discriminative  ability.  Judd  ('07) 
similarly  classes  it  as  a  test  of  discriminative  reaction.  Cattell 
and  Farrand  ('96)  regarded  it  as  a  test  of  rate  of  perception. 
Thorndike  ('04)  also  used  it  as  a  test  of  perception.  Pyle 
('13)  gives  it  as  a  test  of  perception  and  attention.  On  the 
whole,  it  seems  that  the  test  measures  all  of  these  capacities 
as  they  function  together.  To  cancel  A's  it  is  necessary  to 
perceive  them  discrimnatively  and  attentively,  and  to  react 
by  the  simple  cancelling  movement.  The  correlations  of  the 
test  with  other  tests  and  with  class  standing  are  generally 
small  and  sometimes  negative.  (See  Whipple,  '10). 

In  giving  the  tests,  the  instructions  to  the  subjects  were 
by  means  of  examples  on  a  blackboard,  supplemented  by  such 
oral  directions  as  were  necessary.  A  constant  order  of  suc- 
cession was  maintained  among  the  tests.  The  maze  was  given 


42  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

first,  while  the  pencils  were  sharp,  then  followed  cancellation, 
mixed  relations  I,  mixed  relations  II,  and  completion.  This 
order  was  invariable  except  in  Newport  News,  where,  on  ac- 
count of  a  lack  of  time,  the  mixed  relations  and  completion 
tests  were  given  first,  to  make  sure  that  they,  as  the  most 
important,  would  be  finished.  The  schools  were  taken  as 
wholes,  one  after  another,  and  the  lower  grades  were  generally 
tested  before  the  higher.  There  was  no  appreciable  chance 
for  aid  in  working  the  tests  to  be  transmitted  in  conversa- 
tion from  grade  to  grade. 

The  time-limit  method  was  used,  and  the  effort  was  made 
to  allow  just  enough  time  in  each  test  to  enable  to  quickest 
of  all  the  subjects  to  finish.  In  Fredericksburg,  where  the 
tests  were  given  first,  the  time  allowed  for  the  mixed  relations 
test  was  15  sec.  longer  than  elsewhere,  and  the  time  allowed 
for  the  completion  test  was  30  sec.  longer.  The  time  was 
reduced  in  the  other  cities  because  several  of  the  Fredericks- 
burg  subjects  finished  the  work  before  the  time  limit  was 
reached.  This  extra  time  in  Fredericksburg  had  apparently 
no  effect  upon  the  relative  standing  of  the  white  and  colored 
groups,  but  it  is  obvious  that  if  the  time  allowed  is  longer  than 
is  necessary  for  the  quickest  subjects  to  complete  the  test, 
the  group  differences  will  be  somewhat  reduced.  The  brightest 
of  the  pupils  will  not  be  able  to  accomplish  as  large  an  amount 
of  work  as  their  ability  warrants.  On  the  whole,  the  time 
limits  as  used  were  approximately  the  periods  required 
by  the  ablest  of  the  subjects.  With  the  exception  mentioned, 
these  times  were  as  follows,  for  all  grades:  each  mixed  rela- 
tions test,  1  min.,  45  sec. ;  completion  test,  8  min.,  30  sec. ;  maze 
test,  1  min.,  30  sec. ;  cancellation  test,  1  min.,  20  sec.  The  sub- 
jects were  told  that  they  would  have  barely  time  to  finish  if 
they  worked  at  their  highest  speed.  In  all  of  the  tests  the 
directions  were  to  try  for  as  great  speed  as  possible,  while  not 
making  any  mistakes.  If  an  unusually  difficult  part  of  the 
test  should  be  met,  in  the  mixed  relations  and  completion 
tests,  they  were  advised  to  pass  it  by  without  a  too  great  waste 
of  time.  A  stop-watch  was  used,  and  all  directions  were  given 
by  the  writer,  who  also  did  all  of  the  scoring. 

In  scoring  the  mixed  relations  test,  each  accurate  relation 
recorded  was  graded  2;  each  partially  correct  relation  was 
graded  1 ;  each  error  was  graded  0,  as  was  each  omission.  The 


THE  SUBJECTS  AND  THE  TESTS.  43 

possible  maximum  score  was  thus  40  for  each  of  the  two  parts 
in  which  the  test  was  given.  The  scoring  was,  of  course, 
absolutely  uniform  throughout,  for  each  type  of  correct, 
partially  correct  or  incorrect  record. 

The  completion  test  was  scored  in  the  same  way.  Each 
correct  sentence  was  rated  2;  each  partially  correct  sentence 
was  rated  1 ;  and  each  incorrect  or  omitted  sentence  was  rated 
0.  Since  there  were  twenty-five  sentences,  the  possible  maxi- 
mum score  was  50. 

The  maze  test  measured  two  things,  speed  and  accuracy. 
Accuracy  was  scored  by  counting  the  number  of  touches  made. 
Speed  was  determined  by  the  amount  of  the  test  completed 
or  the  distance  traversed.  In  rating  this,  each  straight  sec- 
tion of  the  maze  was  counted  1.  Since  there  are  140  straight 
sections  in  the  test,  the  possible  maximum  score  for  speed 
was  140.  1 

This  test  presents  a  difficulty  in  its  scoring.  The  two 
quantities  which  it  measures  are  variables  which  do  not  main- 
tain a  constant  ratio  to  each  other.  If  only  a  short  distance 
is  traversed  within  the  time  limit,  the  number  of  touches  is 
small  as  compared  with  the  amount  done.  But  if  a  great 
distance  is  traversed,  the  number  of  touches  is  large  as  com- 
pared with  the  space  gone  over.  To  illustrate:  a  distance  of 
60  will  mean,  say,  4  touches,  a  ratio  of  1  to  15 ;  but  a  distance 
of  120  will  mean,  say,  20  touches,  a  ratio  of  1  to  6.  And  yet 
the  latter  record  may  be  as  good  as  the  former.  As  speed 
increases,  accuracy  normally  decreases,  and  in  a  constantly 
changing  ratio. 

In  handling  the  maze  test,  a  number  of  investigators  have 
chosen  to  deduct  a  certain  arbitrary  amount  from  the  speed 
record  for  each  touch.  Thus  Whitley  ('11)  and  Simpson 
('12),  using  the  amount-limit  method,  add  5  sec.  and  10  sec., 
respectively,  for  each  touch  made.  But  this  cannot  be  satis- 
factory. A  touch  made  by  a  subject  who  works  at  great  speed 
is  far  less  significant  than  a  touch  made  by  a  subject  who 
works  at  a  much  lower  speed.  Where  the  ratio  of  accuracy 
to  speed  is  a  variable  one,  as  in  this  case,  no  constant  figure 
can  be  deducted  from  the  speed  record  for  each  error. 

What  is  needed  is  a  set  of  ratios,  expressing  the  relation 
of  touches  to  distance  at  each  of  a  large  number  of  possible 
distances.  Such  a  set  of  ratios  could  be  ascertained  by  ade- 
quate experiment,  and  they  would  be  very  interesting  in 


44  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

themselves  and  also  very  useful,  since  there  is  no  other  prac- 
ticable group  test  of  motor  capacity.  But  at  present  they  do 
not  exist,  and  it  is  therefore  impossible  to  give  the  best  treat- 
ment to  the  results  of  the  maze  test. 

The  method  that  is  followed  herein  is  to  set  forth  the  num- 
ber of  touches  and  the  distance  covered  by  each  group  of  sub- 
jects. The  comparison  of  group  with  group  must  then  be 
based  on  the  relative  number  of  touches  made  and  the  relative 
distance  traversed.  If  the  score  for  either  touches  or  distance, 
or  both,  should  be  the  same  for  each  group,  an  accurate  com- 
parison would  of  course  be  possible.  Or  if  one  group  should 
exceed  the  other  in  touches  but  not  in  distance,  or  in  distance 
but  not  in  touches,  an  accurate  comparison  could  be  made.  It 
generally  happens,  however,  that  one  group  exceeds  the  other 
in  both  touches  and  distance,  and  in  this  case  the  difficulty 
arises.  The  ratio  of  touches  to  distance  is  normally  smaller 
in  a  slow  group  than  in  a  fast  one,  and  smaller  to  an  unknown 
degree. 

The  cancellation  test  also  measures  both  speed  and  ac- 
curacy, but  here  the  difficulty  in  equating  the  two  is  not  so 
pronounced.  The  score  for  speed  is  obtained  by  counting 
the  number  of  A's  cancelled ;  the  score  for  accuracy  is  arrived 
at  by  counting  the  number  of  A's  omitted  in  the  amount  of 
text  gone  over. 

The  number  of  A's  omitted  is  very  small,  and  is  constantly 
so  from  group  to  group.  Roughly,  only  about  one-third  or  one- 
half  of  the  subjects  make  any  omissions  at  all.  And  it  does 
not  appear  that  there  is  any  very  definite  relation  between  the 
number  of  omissions  and  the  number  of  cancellations.  Sev- 
eral investigators  have  reported  this  to  be  true  of  the  test. 
Woodworth  and  Wells  ('11)  say  there  are  no  workable  indi- 
vidual differences  in  accuracy  and  that  there  is  little  reason 
for  its  being  scored.  Binet  ('03)  found  that  subjects  worked 
with  approximately  equal  accuracy.  Others,  as  Thorndike 
('04),  ignore  omissions  in  giving  results  from  the  test. 
Whipple  ('10)  and  others,  however,  think  omissions  may  be 
important.  Both  omissions  and  cancellations  are  given  for  all 
of  the  groups  in  this  study ;  but  it  will  be  apparent  that  signifi- 
cance can  be  attached  only  to  the  latter. 

Of  the  tests  used,  the  mixed  relations  and  the  completion 
were  given  to  all  subjects.  The  maze  and  the  cancellation 


THE  SUBJECTS  AND  THE  TESTS.  45 

were  not  employed  with  the  white  high  school  pupils  of  Rich- 
mond, on  account  of  a  lack  of  available  time.  The  maze  was 
also  not  used  with  the  white  elementary  pupils  of  Newport 
News.  The  white  elementary  pupils  of  Fredericksburg, 
through  an  oversight  on  the  part  of  the  experimenter,  did 
not  sign  their  names  to  the  maze  test,  and  their  records  in 
this  test  can  consequently  be  used  only  in  grade  and  not  in 
age  and  sex  comparisons. 

The  total  time  consumed  by  these  tests  in  the  case  of  any 
individual  subject  was  small,  and  it  cannot  be  supposed  that 
the  records  obtained  from  a  given  individual  are  an  accurate 
index  of  his  relative  ability  in  the  traits  measured.  Further 
trials  would  be  necessary  to  establish  the  final  standing  of 
any  one  of  the  pupils  in  the  tests.  But  while  this  is  true, 
it  is  also  true  that  the  tests  are  sufficient  to  establish  with 
accuracy  the  relative  standing  of  large  groups  of  subjects  as 
wholes,  and  it  is  a  group — a  racial — comparison  that  is  in 
question.  Where  a  group  is  tested,  the  chance  inaccuracies 
which  deflect  the  true  position  of  one  individual  in  one  direc- 
tion serve  also  to  change  the  position  of  another  individual  in 
the  opposite  direction,  so  that  on  the  whole  the  central  ten- 
dency of  the  group  remains  unchanged  from  what  it  would 
be  in  the  case  of  a  very  great  number  of  measurements,  the 
practice  effect,  of  course,  being  disregarded.  The  individual 
inaccuracies  balance  each  other,  and  the  group  standing  is  un- 
affected by  them.  It  is  improbable  that  many  repeated  trials 
would  appreciably  disturb  the  average  score.  This  view  is 
taken  for  granted  in  all  tests  upon  large  numbers  of  subjects; 
Thorndike  ('04)  gives  illustrations  of  its  validity.  The  mixed 
relations  test  as  herein  used  is  another  illustration,  as  will 
appear.  For  the  test  is  given  in  two  parts — is,  in  reality,  two 
tests — and  the  relative  standing  of  the  groups  compared  is 
the  same  in  each.  Woodworth  and  Wells  ('11),  indeed,  recom- 
mend a  short  test  of  this  and  related  kinds  as  being  better  than 
a  long  one,  since  it  is  freer  from  interferences  of  a  disturb- 
ing character.  So  the  final  average  results  of  these  tests  may 
confidently  be  taken  as  reliable  measures  of  the  relative  ability 
of  whites  and  negroes  in  the  traits  involved,  although  the  time 
consumed  in  the  actual  testing  was  short. 


CHAPTER  III 
GENERAL  COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES 

In  the  present  chapter  a  general  comparison  is  made  be- 
tween the  scores  of  the  white  and  the  colored  subjects.  In  set- 
ting forth  the  results,  the  tables  and  graphs  are  arranged  in 
the  same  order  for  each  test.  First  are  given  the  average  scores 
made  by  each  age  and  sex  and  by  each  grade,  with  their  aver- 
age deviations.  The  tables  containing  these  data  are  the  basis 
of  the  comparisons  made  in  the  other  tables,  and  they  also  give 
the  figures  which  are  represented  by  the  graphs.  The  graphs 
are  next  in  order,  and  serve  to  make  the  group  relationships 
contained  in  the  tables  somewhat  plainer.  It  may  be  noticed 
that  the  graphs  and  the  tables  of  comparison  which  follow 
them  omit  those  ages  and  grades  in  which  there  are  not  fig- 
ures for  both  races :  no  comparison  is  made  unless  the  ages  and 
grades  are  alike.  The  results  from  Richmond,  Fredericks- 
burg  and  Newport  News  appear  in  succession  in  each  table. 
There  are  no  graphs  for  the  two  latter  cities. 

Following  the  graphs,  for  each  test  come  the  tables  in 
which  the  group  comparisons  are  made.  First  appear  the 
actual  differences  between  the  scores  obtained  by  the  two 
races,  classified  by  age  and  sex  and  by  grades.  The  averages 
of  the  separate  age  and  grade  differences  are  given,  with  their 
probable  errors.  These  averages,  of  course,  are  the  most  reli- 
able figures  for  comparison.  Next  are  the  tables  which  set 
forth  the  percentage  of  the  score  of  the  whites  which  was 
obtained  by  the  negroes,  with  the  averages  of  the  separate 
ages  and  grades  and  the  probable  errors  of  the  averages.  The 
tables  which  show  the  actual  differences  between  the  scores 
and  those  which  show  the  percentages  deal  with  the  same 
racial  differences,  and  are  simply  two  ways  of  exhibiting  the 
same  group  relationships.  Lastly,  as  still  another  mode  of 
comparison,  for  each  test  is  given  the  percentage  of  each  age 
and  grade  of  the  colored  subjects  that  reaches  or  exceeds  the 

46 


COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES.  47 

average  score  of  the  white  subjects  of  the  same  age  or  grade. 
The  averages  and  probable  errors  of  the  separate  age  and 
grade  percentages  are  given  as  before.  This  comparison  is 
made  only  for  Richmond,  since  the  relatively  small  number  of 
pupils  tested  in  Fredericksburg  and  Newport  News  would  ren- 
der it  somewhat  unreliable  for  those  cities.  A  group  com- 
parison by  means  of  the  percentage  of  one  group  reaching  or 
exceeding  the  average  of  the  other  requires  a  rather  large 
number  of  subjects  to  be  of  value.  If  the  number  is  small, 
chance  inequalities  in  the  distribution  of  the  groups  may 
make  the  percentage  appear  to  be  much  too  high  or  much  too 
low. 

It  should  be  said  that  this  comparison  in  terms  of  the  per- 
centage of  the  negroes  reaching  or  exceeding  the  average  of 
the  whites  is  valid  only  in  so  far  as  the  groups  follow  a  normal 
mode  of  distribution.  That  is,  the  average  of  the  groups  must 
also  be  approximately  the  median  of  the  groups.  Or  to  put 
it  in  another  way,  approximately  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  groups 
must  reach  or  exceed  their  own  average.  Otherwise,  we 
would  have  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  negroes  reaching  or  exceeding 
the  score  obtained  by  30  per  cent,  or  70  per  cent.,  or  any 
indefinite  per  cent.,  of  the  whites.  The  ideal  procedure  would 
be  to  ascertain  the  percentage  of  the  negroes  reaching  or  ex- 
ceeding the  median,  rather  than  the  average,  of  the  whites. 
But  in  the  present  comparison  the  averages  and  the  medians 
of  the  groups  compared  are  approximately  the  same,  as  the 
following  figures  will  show,  and  the  mode  of  comparison 
adopted  is  a  valid  one. 

In  the  mixed  relations  test,  the  percentage  of  the  whites 
reaching  or  exceeding  their  bwn  average  in  Test  I  is  50.0, 
P.E.  1.7,  for  all  ages  of  the  boys;  53.5,  P.E.  2.2,  for  all  ages 
of  the  girls ;  and  54.8,  P.jf.  1.6,  for  all  grades.  (The  grades 
contain  both  boys  and  girls).  In  Test  II  the  percentage  for 
boys,  all  ages,  is  55.0/P.E.  2.3;  for  girls,  all  ages,  it  is  55.9, 
P.E.  2.2 ;  and  for  a)I  grades  it  is  55.6,  P.E.  2.1.  It  is  thus 
evident  that  for  the  white  subjects  in  this  test  the  average 
and  the  median  Are  approximately  the  same,  and  that  the 
groups  follow  jl  sufficiently  normal  form  of  distribution  for 
the  percentage7  comparison  to  be  made  in  terms  of  the  average 
rather  than /of  the  median.  The  figures  showing  the  percen- 
tage of  the7  colored  subjects  reaching  or  exceeding  their  own 
average  are  as  follows:  Test  I — boys  of  all  ages,  48.4,  P.E.  2.4; 


48  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

girls  of  all  ages,  48.7,  P.E.  2.3 ;  all  grades,  48.5,  P.E.  1.4.  Test 
II— boys  of  all  ages,  52.1,  P.E.  2.5;  girls  of  all  ages,  51.2,  P.E. 
3.3;  all  grades,  52.0,  P.E.  1.9.  Thus  the  colored  subjects  are 
also  seen  to  be  so  distributed  that  their  central  tendency  is 
approximately  the  same  whether  measured  by  average  or  by 
median.  It  worthy  of  note  that  the  percentage  of  subjects 
reaching  or  exceeding  their  own  average  is  somewhat  higher 
in  Test  II  than  in  Test  I.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
scores  themselves  in  Test  II  are  higher  than  in  Test  I,  on 
account  of  the  practice  effect  of  Test  I,  to  such  extent  that 
several  of  the  brighter  subjects  finished  the  second  test  be- 
fore the  time  limit  was  reached,  and  thus  did  not  attain  their 
possible  maximum  score.  This  lowers  the  average  standing 
in  Test  II  so  that  more  than  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  subjects 
reach  or  exceed  it.  This  occurs  for  both  races,  though  slightly 
more  so  for  the  whites  than  for  the  negroes,  since  the  score 
of  the  whites  was  greater,  as  will  appear,  and  more  of  them 
finished  the  test  before  the  expiration  of  the  time  limit.  A 
slightly  larger  percentage  of  the  negroes,  as  will  also  appear, 
reached  the  average  of  the  whites  in  Test  II  than  in  Test  I. 
But  this  should  not  be  taken  to  indicate  that  the  negroes 
profited  more  by  the  practice  in  the  first  test  than  did  the 
whites:  both  races  reached  or  exceeded  their  average  in 
greater  numbers  in  the  second  test. 

In  the  completion  test,  the  percentages  of  white  subjects 
reaching  or  exceeding  their  own  average  are:  boys,  all  ages, 
50.2,  P.E.  2.0;  girls,  all  ages,  52.2,  P.E.  1.3;  all  grades,  52.7, 
P.E.  1.2.  The  percentages  of  colored  subjects  reaching  their 
own  average  are:  boys,  all  ages,  52.6,  P.E.  2.6;  girls,  all  ages, 
54.2,  P.E.  2.1;  all  grades,  54.4,  P.E.  1.3.  In  this  test,  as  in 
the  mixed  relations,  the  average  and  the  median  are  approxi- 
mately the  same. 

The  maze  test  shows  the  following  percentages  of  white 
subjects  reaching  or  exceeding  their  own  average:  boys,  all 
ages — Touches,  50.0,  P.E.  3.3,  Distance,  52.0,  P.E.  1.6;  girls, 
all  ages— Touches,  52.4,  P.E.  2.4,  Distance,  46.8,  P.E.  2.8; 
all  grads — Touches,  48.2,  P.E.  2.7,  Distance,  49.0,  P.E.  2.9. 
The  percentages  of  colored  subjects  reaching  or  exceeding 
their  own  average  in  the  maze  test  are:  boys,  all  ages — 
Touches,  46.6,  P.E.  1.9,  Distance,  46.4,  P.E.  .9 ;  girls,  all  ages- 
Touches,  45.6,  P.E.,  .9,  Distance,  44.4,  P.E.  1.8;  all  grades- 
Touches,  47.8,  P.E.  2.1,  Distance,  51.2,  P.E.  2.3. 


COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES.  49 

In  the  cancellation  test,  the  percentage  of  a  group  reaching 
its  own  average  or  the  average  of  another  group  can  be  validly 
computed  only  for  the  cancellations,  not  for  the  omissions. 
Less  than  half  of  the  subjects  made  any  omissions  at  all, 
and  the  distribution  of  the  omissions  is  consequently  very 
assymmetrical.  The  percentages  of  whites  reaching  or  exceed- 
ing their  own  average  in  cancellations  are  as  follows:  boys  of 
all  ages,  53.0,  P.E.  1.3;  girls  of  all  ages,  49.6,  P.E.  1.9;  all 
grades,  49.3,  P.E.  1.4.  The  percentages  of  negroes  reaching 
or  exceeding  their  own  average  in  cancellations  are:  boys  of 
all  ages,  50.0,  P.E.  3.6;  girls  of  all  ages,  52.2;  P.E.  3.7;  all 
grades,  53.7,  P.E.  1.5. 

These  figures  make  it  evident  that  we  can  compare  the 
white  and  colored  subjects  in  terms  of  the  percentage  of  the 
colored  reaching  or  exceeding  the  average  of  the  white,  since 
the  distributions  throughout  are  on  the  whole  symmetrical.* 

Perhaps  something  should  also  be  said  as  to  the  other 
tables  of  comparison,  those  which  show  the  actual  differences 
between  the  scores  of  the  two  races  and  those  which  show  the 
percentage  of  the  score  of  the  whites  that  is  obtained  by  the 
negroes.  It  sometimes  happens  that  investigators  average 
the  scores  of  a  number  of  different  ages  or  grades,  and  make 
comparisons  by  exhibiting  the  relation  between  such  averages. 
But  this  procedure  makes  it  impossible  to  compute  the  proba- 
ble error  of  the  differences,  and  thus  renders  the  comparisons 
doubtful.  If,  for  example,  scores  from  ages  11  to  18  are 
averaged  for  two  races,  and  a  certain  difference  between  the 
averages  is  set  forth,  one  cannot  tell  from  this  difference 
alone  whether  any  real  racial  superiority  has  been  found. 

*Note  may  be  made  of  the  fact  that  in  a  few  ages  and  grades  no 
colored  subjects  reached  or  exceeded  the  average  of  the  whites,  and  that 
the  percentage  in  such  cases  was  put  down  as  zero.  But  such  per- 
centages are  really  less  than  zero.  And  when  they  are  counted  as  zero, 
as  they  are,  in  obtaining  the  average  for  all  ages  or  grades,  it  is  obvious 
that  this  procedure  tends  to  make  the  average  percentage  too  high. 
That  is,  it  tends  to  make  the  racial  difference  appear  to  be  less  than 
it  really  is. 

Another  matter  that  also  makes  the  racial  differences  found  appear  to 
be  less  than  they  really  are,  is  the  fact  that  in  the  tables  which  show  the 
percentage  of  the  score  of  the  whites  obtained  by  the  negroes,  the  per- 
centages are  always  expressed  in  terms  of  the  white  score.  Hence 
whenever  the  negroes  have  a  higher  score  than  the  whites,  as  they  do 
in  a  few  instances,  the  percentage  expressing  the  fact  is  dispropor- 
tionately large.  For  example,  if  the  whites  score  100  and  the  negroes 
score  75,  the  percentage  is  75;  but  if  the  whites  score  75  and  the  negroes 
score  100,  the  percentage  is  133.  These  considerations  affect  the  final 
averages  only  slightly,  but  they  should  be  borne  in  mind. 


50  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

It  may  be  that  the  separate  ages  show  a  superiority  first  in 
favor  of  one  race  and  then  in  favor  of  the  other,  and  so  on. 
What  is  needed  to  determine  the  validity  of  the  difference  is 
its  probable  error.  This  will  indicate  how  constant  the  dif- 
ference is  from  age  to  age — whether  it  is  a  true  difference  or 
is  due  to  chance.  Of  course  it  will  be  recognized  that  probable 
errors  can  be  computed  for  the  averages  of  a  number  of  dif- 
ferent age  or  grade  scores.  But  such  probable  errors  will  be 
larger  than  the  racial  variability  from  age  to  age  would  war- 
rant, since  scores  normally  increase  with  age.  And  they 
therefore  cannot  be  used  as  accurate  measures  of  the  probable 
error  of  the  racial  difference. 

Where,  as  in  the  tables  of  comparison  contained  herein, 
the  differences  between  the  scores  of  the  separate  ages  are 
found,  the  average  of  these  differences  can  be  obtained  and 
also  the  probable  error  of  the  average.  If  the  differences  for 
the  separate  ages  are  pronouncedly  in  favor  of  one  of  the  two 
races,  the  probable  error  will  be  small  as  compared  with  the 
average.  Even  though  slight,  the  average  difference  will  in- 
dicate a  real  racial  superiority  if  its  probable  error  is  small. 
But  if  the  differences  between  the  separate  ages  are  chance 
differences  which  favor  first  one  race  and  then  the  other,  no 
matter  if  the  average  difference  is  large,  it  will  yet  be  seen 
to  be  no  true  index  on  account  of  its  large  probable  error. 
This  principle  is  as  applicable  to  those  of  the  following  tables 
which  exhibit  the  percentage  of  the  score  of  the  whites  ob- 
tained by  the  negroes,  as  it  is  to  those  which  set  forth  the 
actual  differences.  In  the  percentage  tables  also,  the  average 
of  the  different,  ages  is  computed  and  its  probable  error  is 
given  with  it. 

Mixed  Relations  Test 

The  scores  obtained  by  the  two  races  in  this  test  are  shown 
in  Tables  5  and  6,  and  in  Figures  1-6.  It  may  be  noted  that  in 
Test  II  the  scores  are  somewhat  higher  than  in  Test  I.  This 
is  evidently  due  to  the  practice  that  the  first  test  afforded. 
It  may  also  be  noted,  (Figs.  3  and  6),  that  there  is  a  pro- 
nounced jump  in  the  scores  of  the  colored  grades  when  high 
school  is  reached,  and  that  this  jump  does  not  occur  in  the 
scores  of  the  white  grades.  This  is  probably  the  effect  of  the 
more  intense  action  of  selection  upon  the  colored  than  upon  the 
white  high  school  pupils,  as  was  pointed  out  in  the  preceding 


COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES. 


51 


chapter.  In  some  of  the  high  school  years  the  colored  are 
superior  to  the  white  subjects,  but  this  does  not  occur  in  the 
elementary  school. 

TABLE  V. 

MIXED  RELATIONS  TEST — SCORES  BY  AGE  AND  SEX 
Richmond. 


Ages                      10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

Test  I. 

Boys  —  white 

Av  

14.8 

16.5 

18.3 

18.0 

20.1 

27.8 

25.6 

25.0 

.  . 

A.D  

6.6 

7.3 

8.7 

7.3 

10.0 

5.9 

8.1 

4.0 

Boys—  Col. 

Av  

11.5 

10.2 

11.8 

13.7 

12.9 

20.5 

22.0 

20.0 

15.3 

A.D  

3.8 

4.4 

5.0 

6;5 

6.9 

8.4 

8.5 

8.4 

7.6 

Girls  —  white 

Av  

16.9 

18.8 

18.0 

22.7 

23.0 

25.0 

19.8 

16.6 

18.5 

A.D  

6.0 

4.2 

7.4 

8.3 

8.6 

7.4 

6.2 

3.8 

.5 

Girls—  Col. 

Av  10.0 

12.4 

10.6 

12.4 

14.5 

18.6 

21.1 

/  26.0 

'18.4' 

22.6 

A.D  5.3 

4.4 

4.8 

6.0 

7.5 

9.1 

6.8 

6.8 

/    8.4 

9.3 

Test  II. 

Boys  —  white 

Av  

16.5 

19.5 

21.3 

24.1 

22.0 

33.0 

34.6 

29.6 

A.D.  

8.0 

9.3 

9.2 

9.5 

11.9 

5,5 

5.2 

4.6 

Boys—  Col. 

Av  "      .. 

12.6 

11.6 

13.7 

16.3 

19.2 

25.7 

32.0 

32.1 

31.2 

A.D  

8.1 

6.6 

5.8 

10.0 

11.0 

8.5 

7.1 

7.1 

3.7 

Girls—  white 

Av  

22.0 

22.4 

21.5 

24.7 

28.6 

31.7 

27,8 

23.0 

18.5 

A.D  

6.4 

8.2 

8.5 

10.7 

7.4 

6.9 

7.2 

11.4 

1.5 

Girls—  Col. 

Av  14.0 

17.2 

10.6 

11.8 

16.4 

22.1 

27.9 

31.9 

22.7 

24.0 

A.D  4.0 

5.0 

4.7 

6.6 

10.8 

9.1 

6.8 

7.1 

9.2 

5.3 

Fredericksburg. 

\ 

m 
Test  I. 

Boys  —  white 

Av  

10.6 

20.5 

14.4 

23.1 

27.5 

23.5 

28.8 

38.0 

A.D  

4.0 

12.5 

6.4 

10.7 

9.4 

13.1 

8.5 

2.0 

€ 

Boys—  Col. 

Av  

€ 

11.3 

9.5 

t 

14.0 

11.2 

. 

22.0 

19.5 

A.D  

1.6 

3.5 

5.3 

2.6 

0 

8.5 

Girls  —  white 

Av  

20.5 

19.5 

22.5 

19.3 

16.6 

26.8 

20.5 

.  . 

A.D  

11.1 

6.1 

11.1 

14.0 

8.0 

9.6 

10.5 

.  . 

Girls  —  Col. 

Av  

10.7 

10.5 

6.0 

28.5 

21.3 

13.5 

18.5 

A.D  

4.7 

1.9 

4.0 

8.5 

8.9 

6.5 

7.5 

Test  II. 

Boys  —  white 

. 

Av  

22.6 

23.5 

17.8 

26.5 

33.4 

32.1 

34.0 

38.0 

t  . 

A.D  

6.6 

15.2 

10.8 

12.5 

7.5 

6.5 

6.8 

1.3 

Boys  —  Col. 

Av  

13.3 

8.5 

20.3 

19.0 

. 

29.0 

22.7 

A.D  

5.0 

.5 

9.6 

7.6 

m 

2.0 

13.2 

Girls  —  white 

Av  

25.8 

19.1 

29.0 

22.6 

24.8 

32.2 

28.0 

A.D  

12.1 

7.1 

9.7 

8.3 

5.5 

7.0 

8.0 

.  . 

Girls—  Col. 

Av  

13.3 

11.0 

16.0 

35.0 

27.6 

23.0 

21.0 

A.D  

8.1 

2.8 

12.0 

3.0 

5.8 

9.0 

16.0 

52 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 


Ages 
Test  I. 
Boys — white 

Av 

A.D 

Boys—Col. 

Av 

A.D 

Girls — white 

Av 

A.D 

Girls— Col. 

Av 

A.D 

Test  II. 
Boys — white 

Av 

A.D 

Boys— Col. 

Av 

A.D 

Girls— white 

Av 

A.D 

Girls— Col. 

Av 

A.D.., 


10 


11 


Newport  News. 

12        13        14        15 


16 


17        18        19 


27.6     16.4     20.9     18.9     15.2 
3.3       6.4       8.3       5.3       4.7 


13.5 
9.5 


7.0 
1.0 


19.6     23.1     18.7     16.3     10.7 
4.6       6.6       7.3       7.1       4.7 


7.7 
4.1 


7.0 
1.0 


6.0 

1.8 


2.0 
0 


24.5 
1.5 

8.6 
6.6 


33.6     24.4     24.7 
3.3       7.1       9.4 


20.8     21.0 
8.3       5.2 


21.5 
15.5 


7.0 
1.0 


30.4     30.9     23.9     22.0     12.5     31.0 
2.4       5.6       7.8     10.2     10.0       3.0 


9.4 
3.0 


4.2 
2.6 


6.8 
2.4 


4.6 
3.3 


4.0 
1.3 


TABLE  VI. 


MIXED 

Grades 
Test  I. 
White  Av 

A.D 

Col.  Av 

A.D 

Test  II. 

White    Av 

A.D 

Col.   Av 

A.D 

Test  I. 

White  Av 

A.D 

Col.  Av 

A.D 

Test  II. 

White  Av 

A.D 

Col.  Av 

A.D 

Test  I. 

White  Av 

A.D 

Col.  Av 

A.D.  . 


RELATIONS  TEST — SCORES  BY  GRADES 

Richmond. 
5A    5B     6A     6B     7A     7B     1A    2A    2B     3A    4A 


13.1  13.9  16.8 

6.5  4.0  4.6 

8.9  10.3  13.0 

3.5  3.1  5.9 


16.8  18.4  24.9  25.5  28.0 

6.2  5.8  6.9  7.3  6.8 

13.4  9.7  12.2  21.4  20.7 

5.2  5.1  6.3  6.8  7.7 


14.8  18.0  19.8  22.6  21.8  29.4  29.0  33.6 

7.0     6.2     9.2     7.5  9.1  8.5  7.9     5.2 

9.7  10.3  14.0  13.9  16.5  11.8  27.1  28.1 

4.8  5.6     6.7     7.1  8.2  6.6  8.5     6.9 

Fredericksburg. 

. .       . .   16.2      . .  18.5  . .  23.1  22.6 

. .       . .     8.1      . .  10.0  . .  9.8  12.8 

. .      . .   10.7      . .  8.2  . .  13.6  16.2 

2.7  4.5  4.8     6.2 


17.7 
6.1 


24.0 
8.0 


.   19.1      ..22.0  .. 

,   10.1      ..   11.0  .. 

.   10.6      ..   11.1  .. 

3.8      ..     4.7  .. 
Newport  News. 

. .   15.7  22.5  20.6 

.       ..     6.8     6.1  7.3 

.7.8      ..     7.4  .. 

8.5  3.6 


32.5  27.8 
6.7     8.8 

20.6  23.5 
9.0     6.1 


23.1  23.3 

7.2  8.6 

29.4  22.6 

4.4  9.3 

31.8  30.2 

6.9  7.8 

35.4  29.6 

2.6  8.2 


26.3  30.8 
9.8  7.1 

22.5  24.2 
9.8  6.2 

32.9  34.3 
5.2  6.9 

30.3  30.1 
7.8  7.1 


Test  II. 

White  Av 23.2  24.9  25.5 

A.D 9.1     8.2     8.6 

Col.  Av 8.5  ..     7.1      .. 

A.D 4.3  3.8 


COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES. 


53 


Fig.  1.    Mixed  Relations  Test  I — Scores  of  White  and  Colored  Boys — 
Richmond.* 

*The  white  and  the  black  columns  indicate  the  scores  of  the  white  and 
the  colored  subjects,  respectively. 


AGE 


Fig.  2.    Mixed  Relations  Test  I—Scores  of  White  and  Colored  Girls- 
Richmond. 


Fig.   3.    Mixed    Relations    Test  I  —  Scores    of  White    and    Colored 
Grades  —  Richmond. 


54 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 


Fig.  4.     Mixed  Relations  Test  II— Scores  of  White  and  Colored  Boys- 
Richmond. 


Fig. '5.     Mixed  Relations  Test  II— Scores  of  White  and  Colored  Girls- 
Richmond. 


GflADf 


Fig.   6.     Mixed   Relations    Test    II — Scores    of   White     and     Colored 
Grades — Richmond. 


COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES.  55 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  gradual  increase  in  the 
scores  as  the  age  of  the  subjects  increases  comes  to  a  stand- 
still in  the  upper  years;  indeed,  the  graphs  show  that  the 
older  pupils  as  a  whole  have  somewhat  lower  scores  than  those 
immediately  below  them  in  age.  This  is  to  be  expected.  In  a 
group  of  pupils  taken  from  any  limited  number  of  school 
grades,  those  whose  ages  are  highest  will  not  do  as  well  in 
tests  of  ability  as  their  ages  would  seem  to  warrant.  When 
the  elementary  school  pupils  alone  are  classified  by  age  their 
scores  do  not  progressively  increase,  but  instead  tend  to  de- 
crease in  the  upper  years  as  do  those  of  the  high  school  pupils 
represented  in  the  graphs.  The  white  elementary  pupils  tested 
in  Richmond  ranged,  in  numbers  large  enough  for  compari- 
son, from  11  to  15  years  of  age,  inclusive.  And  their  scores 
for  each  age  were  as  follows:  Mixed  Relations  Test  I — Boys, 
14.8,  15.0,  17.3,  16.0,  13.7;  Girls,  16.9,  18.8,  17.0,  17.2,  15.2. 
Mixed  Relations  Test  II— Boys,  16.5,  18.0,  20.6,  22.1,  15.0; 
Girls,  22.0,  22.1,  21.0,  17.4,  16.7.  The  scores  for  the  dif- 
ferent ages  of  colored  elementary  pupils  behaved  in  the 
same  way.  It  is  thus  evident  that  there  is  precisely  the  same 
sort  of  decrease  in  the  scores  of  the  higher  ages  that  was 
found  for  the  high  school  pupils. 

The  explanation  of  this  decrease  with  age  is  probably  to 
be  sought  in  the  bearings  of  the  general  fact  that  within 
any  school  grade  the  younger  pupils  have  greater  natural 
ability  than  the  older.  If  the  older  pupils  had  had  great 
ability,  they  would  have  passed  out  of  the  grade;  that  the 
younger  pupils  are  so  advanced  as  to  be  classed  with  the 
older  pupils  is  evidence  of  their  considerable  capacity.  The 
younger  pupils  in  a  shorter  length  of  time  have  done  the 
same  amount  of  work  that  the  older  pupils  have  done  in  a 
greater  length  of  time.  A  grade  contains  the  best  of  the 
young  and  the  worst  of  the  old.  So  when  the  pupils  in  the 
upper  grades  of  the  elementary  school  are  classified  by  age, 
it  is  apparent  that  the  older  pupils  will  be  those  of  less  native 
ability  and  the  younger  pupils  will  be  those  of  greater  native 
ability.  The  younger  pupils  in  the  upper  elementary  grades 
are  the  best  of  their  age;  the  older  pupils  are  the  poorest  of 
their  age.  The  poor  and  mediocre  pupils  of  the  same  age 
as  the  younger  group  have  not  yet  reached  the  higher  grades 
of  the  elementary  school;  the  able  pupils  of  the  same  age  as 
the  older  group  have  passed  on  into  high  school.  The  same 


56  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

reasoning  applies  to  the  school  system  as  a  whole,  including 
the  high  school  as  the  highest  grades.  The  older  pupils  in 
the  upper  grades  of  the  high  school  have  not  as  great  natural 
ability  as  the  younger  pupils.  The  ablest  pupils  of  the  same 
age  as  the  older  group  have  finished  the  high  school  course, 
and  left  behind  only  the  mediocre  and  the  poor.  But  the 
younger  group  is  composed  of  the  brightest  pupils  of  their 
age,  for  those  of  less  ability  have  not  yet  reached  the  upper 
grades.  That  this  explanation  of  the  smaller  scores  made 
by  the  oldest  pupils  tested  is  pertinent,  is  further  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  the  graphs  which  give  the  scores  by  grades 
do  not  show  the  decrease  for  the  advanced  pupils  as  it  is  shown 
by  the  graphs  which  give  the  scores  by  ages.  Grades  are 
supposedly  groups  of  an  increasing  degree  of  ability. 

The  truth  of  the  view  set  forth  above  is  still  further  borne 
out  by  an  incidental  comparison  that  came  to  light  in  the 
present  investigation.  In  the  elementary  schools  at  Richmond 
were  tested  30  white  boys,  20  white  girls,  24  colored  boys  and 
38  colored  girls,  112  in  all,  of  ages  14  and  15,  combined.  In 
the  high  schools  at  Richmond  were  tested  18  white  boys,  25 
white  girls,  10  colored  boys  and  31  colored  girls,  84  in  all,  of 
ages  14  and  15,  combined.  It  is  true  that  there  was  a  larger 
proportion  of  14  than  of  15  year  old  pupils  in  the  elemen- 
tary groups,  and  a  larger  proportion  of  15  than  of  14  year  old 
pupils  in  the  high  school  groups.  But  this  is  of  no  conse- 
quence, since  the  14  year  old  elementary  pupils  are  fully  as 
able  as  those  15  years  old,  as  was  shown  two  paragraphs 
above;  and  since  the  same  thing  is  true  of  14  and  15  year 
old  pupils  in  the  high  school,  as  will  be  shown  three  paragraphs 
below.  So  these  groups  may  be  considered  as  of  the  same 
age,  one  set  being  in  the  elementary  school  and  one  set  in  the 
high  school.  The  scores  obtained  by  them  in  three  tests  were 
as  follows: 

Mixed  Relations  Test  I — White  Boys,  Elementary,  14.8, 
High  School,  24.1;  White  Girls,  Elementary,  16.2,  High  School, 
27.7;  Colored  Boys,  Elementary,  10.2,  High  School,  22.0;  Col- 
ored Girls,  Elementary,  8.9,  High  School,  23.9.  Mixed  Rela- 
tions Test  II — White  Boys,  Elementary,  18.5,  High  School, 
28.6;  White  Girls,  Elementary,  17.0,  High  School,  33.7;  Col- 
ored Boys,  Elementary,  12.3,  High  School,  31.8 ;  Colored  Girls, 
Elementary,  10.2,  High  School,  29.0.  Completion  Test— White 
Soys,  Elementary,  18.4,  High  School,  28.6;  White  Girls,  Ele- 


COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES.  57 

mentary,  16.1,  High  School,  33.1;  Colored  Boys,  Elementary, 
12.6,  High  School,  23.5 ;  Colored  Girls,  Elementary,  15.6,  High 
School,  25.4.  The  maze  and  cancellation  tests  did  not  bring 
out  marked  differences  anywhere,  as  will  appear,  and  the  dif- 
ferences revealed  by  them  in  this  comparison  of  the  elementary 
and  high  schools  were  not  considerable. 

These  figures  show  that  the  white  high  school  pupils  ob- 
tained on  the  whole  nearly  twice  the  score  that  was  reached 
by  the  elementary  pupils  of  the  same  age;  and  that  the  col- 
ored high  school  pupils  obtained  on  the  whole  more  than  twice 
the  score  that  was  received  by  the  equally  old  elementary 
pupils.  Thus  is  borne  out  the  contention  that  the  older  pupils 
in  the  upper  grades  of  the  elementary  school  are  the  poorest 
of  their  age;  the  brightest  of  their  age  have  passed  beyond 
the  elementary  school.  And  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
the  same  state  of  affairs  exists  in  the  upper  high  school  grades. 
The  able  18  year  old  students  have  gone  out  of  the  school  and 
left  behind  their  less  able  fellows.  And  these  are  inferior  to 
pupils  of  normal  high  school  ability  at  a  lower  age. 

It  follows  as  a  corollary  of  the  above,  that  the  youngest 
pupils  represented  in  the  graphs  have  scores  which  are  too 
high  to  be  truly  representative  of  their  ages.  The  lowest  ages 
in  any  limited  number  of  grades  contain  only  the  brightest 
pupils  of  those  ages;  the  mediocre  and  the  dull  have  not  yet 
reached  the  grades  in  question.  While  the  highest  ages  score 
too  low,  the  lowest  ages  score  too  high.  So  it  appeared  that 
the  youngest  and  the  oldest  pupils  in  the  elementary  grades 
tested  in  Richmond  stood  close  together  in  their  scores,  and 
this  was  probably  on  account  of  the  undue  superiority  of  the 
young  as  much  as  on  account  of  the  undue  inferiority  of  the 
old.  The  same  is  true  of  the  high  school  taken  alone.  Ages 
14  to  18,  inclusive,  were  represented  in  the  Richmond  high 
schools  in  sufficient  numbers  for  comparison.  The  scores 
received  by  the  different  ages  of  both  white  and  colored  pupils 
behaved  in  the  same  way ;  the  scores  of  the  white  high  school 
pupils  follow:  Mixed  Relations  Test  I— Boys,  23.1,  25.2,  31.3, 
25.6,  25.0;  Girls,  30.3,  25.2,  25.6,  20.1,  16.6.  Mixed  Relations 
Test  II— Boys,  29.0,  28.3,  36.8,  34.6,  29.6;  Girls,  35.4,  32.0, 
32.5,  28.0,  23.0.  As  in  the  case  of  the  elementary  school,  the 
oldest  and  the  youngest  high  school  pupils  do  not  stand  far 
apart  in  their  scores.  And  as  the  older  pupils  scored  too  low, 
so  the  younger  pupils  scored  too  high.  This  is  evidenced  by 


58  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

the  fact  that  when  all  of  the  pupils  of  their  age,  both  elemen- 
tary and  high  school,  are  considered  together,  the  resulting 
score,  which  is  the  true  one,  is  much  lower.  Of  course  it  is 
the  combined  score  of  both  high  school  and  elementary  pupils 
of  the  same  age  that  is  represented  in  the  tables  and  graphs. 

t  This  suggests  a  matter  to  which  attention  should  be  called. 
The  attempt  is  sometimes  made  to  establish  norms  for  vari- 
ous ages  of  pupils  in  psychological  tests.  The  idea  is  to  as- 
certain by  a  large  number  of  experiments  the  performance 
that  may  be  expected  from  a  child  of  a  certain  age.  But  it  is 
very  evident  that  such  attempts  can  only  serve  to  mislead  if 
they  deal,  say,  with  pupils  in  the  higher  elementary  grades 
without  taking  the  high  school  into  consideration,  or  if  they 
deal  with  the  lower  grades  of  the  high  school  without  taking 
the  elementary  school  into  consideration.  In  the  former  case, 
the  resulting  norms  for  the  higher  ages  will  be  much  too  low ; 
in  the  latter  case,  for  the  same  ages,  they  will  be  much  too 
high.  A  fourteen  or  fifteen  year  old  child  in  the  school  system 
is  not  a  typical  fourteen  or  fifteen  year  old  child.  He  is  typi- 
cal of  a  child  of  his  age  in  high  or  in  elementary  school, 
and  not  in  general.  The  only  way  in  which  valid  age  norms 
may  be  established  is  by  testing  the  ages  throughout  their 
normal  distributions  among  the  grades.  Or  if  only  one  school 
is  tested,  the  elementary  or  the  high  school,  it  should  at  least 
be  stated  that  such  is  the  case,  so  that  one  may  be  able  to 
make  proper  allowances  for  the  findings  reported.  Even  this 
has  not  always  been  done. 

Attention  may  also  be  called  to  the  bearing  of  the  compara- 
tives scores  of  the  elementary  and  high  school  pupils  of  the 
same  age  upon  a  contention  that  was  made  in  the  preceding 
chapter.  These  scores  show  that  the  high  school  pupils  are 
superior  to  the  elementary  school  pupils  of  equal  age  to  a 
considerably  greater  extent  in  the  case  of  the  negroes  than 
of  the  whites.  The  high  school  negroes  more  than  doubled 
the  score  of  the  elementary  school  negroes  in  each  of  the  four 
comparisons  in  the  mixed  relations  test,  but  the  high  school 
whites  did  not  double  the  score  of  the  elementary  whites  in 
any  of  the  four  comparisons ;  in  the  completion  test,  the  high 
school  doubled  the  score  of  the  elementary  school  only  in  the 
case  of  the  white  girls.  This  fits  in  with  the  other  indications 
that  the  colored  high  school  is  a  more  closely  selected  group 
from  the  point  of  view  of  ability  than  is  the  white  high  school. 


COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES.  59 

TABLE  VII. 
MIXED   RELATIONS   TEST  —  DIFFERENCE   BETWEEN    SCORES   OF;    WHITE 

AND  COLORED  SUBJECTS  CLASSIFIED  BY  AGE  AND  SEX 
(Minus  signs  indicate  greater  scores  by  the  colored  subjects.) 

Richmond. 


.4 
1.1 

.9 
1.2 


1.4 
2.1 

.8 
1.8 


2.7 

.8 

3.2 
1.9 

TABLE  VIII. 
MIXED  RELATIONS  TEST  —  DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN  SCORES  OF  WHITE  AND 

COLORED  SUBJECTS  CLASSIFIED  BY  GRADES 
(Minus  signs  indicate  greater  scores  by  the  colored  subjects.) 

Richmond. 
Grades  5A    5B     6A    6B     7A    7B     1A    2A        3A    4A  Av.  P.E. 


Agies 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

Av. 

Test 

I. 

Boys 

3.3 

6.3 

6.5 

4.3 

7.2 

7.3 

3.6 

5.0 

5.4 

Girls 

,  ...  .     4.5 

8.2 

5.6 

8.2 

4.4 

3.9 

—6.2 

—1.8 

3.3 

Test 

II. 

Boys 

3.9 

7.9 

7.6 

7.8 

2.8 

7.3 

2.6 

—2.5 

4.7 

Girls 

4.8 

11.8 

9.7 

8.3 

6.5 

3.8 

—4.1 

.3 

5.1 

Fredericksburg. 

Test 

I. 

Boys 

49 

13.5 

12.3 

16.0 

11.7 

Girls 

8.8 

12.0 

13.3  —11.9 

5.5 

7.0 

5.8 

Test 

II. 

Boys 

9.3 

.  . 

13.1 

13.1 

.  . 

9.0 

11.1 

Girls 

5.8 

18.0 

6.6  —10.2 

4.6 

5.0 

4.9 

Newport 

News. 

Test 

I. 

Boys 

2.9 

11  9 

7.4 

Girls 

15.4 

11.7 

10.3 

8.7 

. 

11.5 

Test 

II. 

Boys 

2.9 

.  . 

13.8 

.  . 

.  . 

.  . 

.  . 

8.3 

Girls 

21.5 

19.7 

15.2 

7.9 

.  . 

.  . 

.  . 

16.1 

Test 

1  4.2 

3.6     3.8 

3.4     8.7  12.7     4.1 

7 

.3 

—6.3 

.7 

4.2 

.& 

Test 

II             51 

7.7     5.8 

8.7     5.3  17.6     1.9 

5 

.5 

3.6 

.6 

5.5 

.9 

Test 
Test 

Test 

I.. 
II  

I.. 

5.5 

..     8.5 

Fredericksburg. 
..  10.3      ..     9.5 
..   10.9      ..   11.9 
Newport  News. 

.  .   15.1 

6 
4 

.4 
.3 

3.8 

2.6 

6.6 
4.2 

7.0 
7.1 

15.1 

.7 
1.6 

Test 

II  

.  .      .  . 

..   17.8      ..       .. 

> 

,  . 

.  . 

17.8 

.  . 

TABLE  IX. 

MIXED  RELATIONS  TEST — PERCENTAGE  OF    THE  SCORE    OF    THE  WHITE 
OBTAINED  BY  THE  COLORED  SUBJECTS,  CLASSIFIED  BY  AGE  AND  SEX 

Richmond. 

Ages  11  12  13  14   15   16   17   18  Av.  P.E. 
Test  I. 

Boys  78  61  64  76   64   74   86   80  72.9   2.2 

Girls  74  57  69  64   81   84  131  111  83.9   5.7 

Test  II. 

Boys 76  58  64  67   87   78   93  108  78.9   3.9 

Girls 78  46  54  67   78   88  115   99  78.1   5.1 

Fredericksburg. 
Test  I. 

Boys 65  . .  50   47   . .   58  55.0   2.7 

Girls 54  45  30  170   80   65  74.0  11.9 

Test  II. 

Boys 48  . .  60   59   . .   76  60.7   3.2 

Girls 69  38  71  141   86   82  81.2   7.7 


60  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

Newport  News. 
Test  I. 

Boys 82  . .  37  59.5     13.2 

Girls 33  38  36  21       32.0      2.3 

Test  II. 

Boys 88  . .  34  61.0     16.2 

Girls 31  18  31  34       28.5      2.3 

TABLE  X. 

MIXED  RELATIONS  TEST — PERCENTAGE  OP  THE    SCORE  OP    THE    WHITB 
OBTAINED  BY  THE  COLORED  SUBJECTS,  CLASSIFIED  BY  GRADES 

Richmond. 

Grades       5A      5B     6A      6B      7A     7B      1A      2A     3A      4A     Av.    P.E. 

Test  I..     68       74       78       80       52       49       84       74     127       97  78.3       3.9 

Test  II.     66       57       71       62       76       39       93       84     111       98  75.7       4.4 

Fredericksburg. 

Test  1 66       ..       43       ..       59       72       85       79  67.3       3.8 

Test  II 55       ..       50       ..       63      85       92      88  72.2      5.6 

Newport  News. 

Test  1 31       31.0 

Test  II 29       29.0 

TABLE   XI. 

MIXED  RELATIONS  TEST — PERCENTAGE  OP  COLORED  SUBJECTS  REACHING 

OR  EXCEEDING  THE  AVERAGE  OF  THE  WHITE,  BY  AGE  AND  SEX 

AND  BY  GRADES 

Richmond. 

Av.  P.E. 

.   24.4       2.2 
..   34.5       4.5 

.   35.4       4.8 
..   35.6       4.8 

Grades       5A      5B      6A      6B      7A      7B      1A      2A      3A      4A 

Test  I..    .   21       20       37       22       13       11       34       29       87       5633.0       4.2 
Test  II...   18       19       24       18       32         0       62       26       88       5233.9       5.2 

To  return  to  the  comparative  scores  of  negroes  and  whites 
in  the  mixed  relations  test.  Tables  7-11  give  the  detailed 
comparisons.  In  every  instance,  as  shown  by  the  averages, 
the  whites  surpassed  the  negroes,  and  the  probable  errors  are 
so  small  as  to  render  the  averages  very  reliable.  In  Test  I, 
in  Richmond,  the  colored  boys  obtained  72.9  per  cent,  of  the 
score  of  the  white  boys;  the  colored  girls  obtained  83.9  per 
cent,  of  the  score  of  the  white  girls;  the  colored  grades  ob- 
tained 78.3  per  cent,  of  the  score  of  the  white  grades.  In  Test 
II,  the  colored  boys  and  girls  obtained  78.9  and  78.1  per  cent., 
respectively,  of  the  score  of  the  white  boys  and  girls,  and  the 
colored  grades  scored  75.7  per  cent,  as  high  as  did  the  white 
grades.  The  figures  are  very  constant.  We  may  conveniently 


Ages 
Test  I. 
Boys  . 
Girls  . 
Test  II 
Boys  . 
Girls  . 

11 

.  33 
..  22 

.  33 

..  25 

12 

14 
11 

15 
10 

13 

21 
26 

16 
15 

14 

37 
21 

28 
29 

15 

15 
32 

47 
37 

16 

25 
33 

21 
42 

17 

33 
78 

56 

74 

18 

17 
53 

67 
53 

COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES.  61 

average  the  percentages  for  boys,  girls  and  grades,  and  find 
that  in  Test  I  the  colored  pupils  obtained  78.4  per  cent,  of  the 
score  of  the  whites,  and  that  in  Test  II  they  obtained  77.6 
per  cent,  of  the  white  score.  In  Fredericksburg  and  Newport 
News  the  percentage  of  the  score  of  the  whites  obtained  by 
the  negroes  was  considerably  smaller  than  in  Richmond. 

The  figures  showing  the  percentage  of  Richmond  negroes 
reaching  or  exceeding  the  average  of  the  whites  are  as  follows : 
Test  I— Boys,  24.4;  Girls,  34.5;  Grades,  33.0.  Test  II— Boys, 
35.4 ;  Girls,  35.6 ;  Grades,  33.9.  Averaging  the  percentages  for 
boys,  girls  and  grades,  we  find  that  in  Test  I  30.6  per  cent, 
of  the  negroes  reached  or  exceeded  the  white  score,  and  that 
in  Test  II  35.0  per  cent,  of  them  reached  or  exceeded  the  score 
of  the  whites. 

It  is  apparent  that  this  test  reveals  a  considerable  differ- 
ence between  the  two  races.  In  both  the  first  and  second 
tests  the  difference  is  about  equally  marked,  and  it  is  approxi- 
mately the  same  for  both  boys  and  girls  and  for  both  ages  and 
grades. 

Completion  Test 

The  actual  scores  in  the  Completion  Test  appear  in  Tables 
12  and  13,  classified  by  age  and  sex  and  by  grades.  These 
tables  are  the  basis  of  Figures  7-9,  and  of  Tables  14-18,  in 
which  the  detailed  comparisons  are  made.  In  this  test,  as  in 
the  mixed  relations,  though  to  a  less  degree,  may  be  noted 
the  relative  superiority  of  the  higher  colored  grades,  and  the 
fact  that  the  higher  ages,  on  the  whole,  do  not  show  pro- 
gressively increasing  scores  as  do  the  lower  ages. 

TABLE  XII. 
COMPLETION  TEST— SCORES  BY  AGE  AND  SEX 

Richmond. 

Ages                      10  11  12  13  14        15        16       17       18       19 

Boys — white 

Av 15.3  18.7  18.7  21.2     23.4     30.7     30.7     25.2 

A.D 4.3  7.2  6.9  8.2       6.4       7.4       6.9       5.8 

Boys— Col. 

Av 8.8  13.2  13.6  15.8     16.1     21.2     28.1     31.3     27.2 

A.D 1.8  2.2  4.8  6.1       8.6       7.8       7.6       5.6       5.2 

Girls— white 

Av 18.9  20.9  17.0  25.3     27.7     28.9     30.0     33.2     33.5 

A.D 4.3  5.7  5.0  8.5       8.3       7.8       8.0       3.0         .5 

Girls— Col. 

Av 13.6  16.8  13.9  14.5  17.9     22.0     24.0     28.1     23.9     28.6 

A.D.......       4.6  3.1  3.0  3.7  6.3       5.2       5.0       6.3       3.8         .6 


62 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 


Ages 

Boys — white 

Av , 

A.D 

Boys— Col. 

Av 

A.D 

Girls—white 

Av 

A.D 

Girls— Col. 

Av 

A.D... 


10       11 


Fredericksburg. 

12       13       14       15 


16        17       18        19 


24.6     12.0     19.1     23.0     23.7     33.0     31.5     43.3 
8.0      4.0      7.2     10.0      9.0      6.0      5.5      3.0 


15.6 
3.3 


10.0 
3.0 


22.0 
10.0 


17.2 
5.4 


26.5 
2.5 


24.5 
6.5 


24.4     16.5    25.5    22.5 
6.0      6.1       6.0      4.1 


28.8     39.2    35.0 
7.1       5.8      0. 


15.3     15.0  22.6  25.0    24.2     11.0    28.0 

4.5  3.2  4.6  8.0      8.0      4.0     13.0 

Newport  News. 
Boys — white 

Av 25.3    23.2  24.7  20.4  14.8        

A.D 2.3      5.6  6.8  5.3  3.2        

Boys— Col. 

Av 16.5  ..  14.7  

A.D 2.5  ..  2.7  

Girls — white 

Av 30.8    23.0  21.8  21.0  21.5    22.0        

A.D 4.8      5.2  5.2  5.4  3.5  5.0 

Girls— Col. 

Av 13.5  13.1  12.5  8.6      9.0        

A.D 5.7  2.5  4.4  2.0      5.3        

TABLE  XIII. 
COMPLETION  TEST — SCORES  BY  GRADES 

Richmond. 
Grades  5A    5B    6A    6B     7A    7B     1A    2A    2B     3A    4A 

White   Av 13.3  15.1  17.6  22.5  19.4  25.6  27.0  30.5        .   31.2  34.5 

A.D 4.6     4.7     4.6     3.8     5.2  6.8     7.1     6.7      ..     5.9     6.0 

Col.  Av 11.3  13.2  14.2  16.5  16.1  15.7  21.8  27.2  23.4  28.4  29.4 

A.D 3.5    2.6    4.1    4.0    4.3  4.4    6.3     6.3    4.5    4.8    6.6 

Fredericksburg. 

White  Av 17.5      ..  21.3  ..  26.7  26.5      ..  36.0  36.1 

A.D 7.0      ..     6.0  ..     7.8     6.4      ..     5.1     6.0 

Col.  Av 13.0      ..19.2  ..18.420.7      ..24.230.1 

A.D 3.5      ..4.8  ..     3.5     5.0      ..     9.7     6.6 

Newport  News. 

White  Av 21.9  21.9  23.7 

A.D 7.5    5.0  6.5      ..      .. 

Col.  Av 12.6      ..   13.3 

A.D 3.8      ..     4.8 

The  colored  boys  in  Richmond  obtained  78.5  per  cent,  of 
the  score  of  the  white  boys.  The  colored  girls  obtained  80.0 
per  cent,  of  the  score  of  the  white  girls.  And  the  colored 
grades  obtained  81.7  per  cent,  of  the  score  of  the  white  grades. 
The  average  for  boys,  girls  and  grades  is  80.1.  In  Fredericks- 
burg and  Newport  News  the  negroes  are  more  inferior  to  the 
whites  than  in  Richmond,  as  was  the  case  in  the  mixed  rela- 
tions test.  And  the  difference  between  the  races  is  about  the 
same  for  both  boys  and  girls  and  for  both  ages  and  grades. 


COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES. 


63 


Fig.   7.    Completion   Test— Scores    of   White   and    Colored    Boys- 
Richmond. 


Fig.   8.    Completion   Test. — Scores   of   White    and   Colored    Girls — 
Richmond. 


GRADE 


Fig.  9.    Completion  Test — Scores  of  White  and    Colored  Grades — 
Richmond. 


64  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

In  Richmond  the  percentage  of  colored  boys  reaching  or 
exceeding  the  average  of  the  whites  was  32.5.  The  percentage 
of  colored  girls  reaching  or  exceeding  the  average  of  the 
whites  was  24.7.  By  grades,  the  percentage  of  colored  sub- 
jects reaching  or  exceeding  the  average  of  the  whites  was 
26.5.  The  average  for  boys,  girls  and  grades  is  27.9. 

TABLE  XIV. 

COMPLETION  TEST— DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN  SCORES  OF  WHITE  AND  COL- 
ORED SUBJECTS  CLASSIFIED  BY  AGE  AND  SEX 

(Minus  signs  indicate  greater  scores  by  the  colored  subjects.) 

Richmond. 
Ages  11        12        13        14  15        16        17  18       Av.  P.E. 

Boys  ....     6.5      5.5      5.1       5.4          7.3      9.5      2.6      —6.1  4.5  .9 

Girls 2.1       7.0      2.5      7.4          5.7      4.9       1.9          9.3  5.1  .7 

Fredericksburg. 

Boys 9.1        ..           1.7     15.8        ..         16.8  10.8  2.3 

Girls 1.2     10.5      —  .1      3.8     15.0        24.0  9.1  2.6 

Newport  News. 

Boys 6.7        ..       5.7            6.2  .8 

Girls 9.5      8.7      8.5        12.9        9.9  .3 

TABLE  XV. 

COMPLETION  TEST — DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN  SCORES  OF  WHITE  AND  COL- 
ORED SUBJECTS  CLASSIFIED  BY  GRADES 

(Minus  signs  indicate  greater  scores  by  the  colored  subjects.) 

Richmond. 
Grades  5A    6B    6A     6B     7A     7B     1A    2A    3A     4A  Av.  P.E. 

2.0     1.9    3.4    6.0    3.3    9.9     5.2    3.3    2.8    5.1     4.3      .5 

Fredericksburg. 
. .  . .  4.5  . .  2.1  . .  8.3  5.8  11.8  6.0  6.4  .8 

Newport  News. 
8.6 8.6  .. 

TABLE  XVI. 

COMPLETION  TEST — PERCENTAGE  OF  THE  SCORE  OF  THE  WHITE  OBTAINED 
BY  THE  COLORED  SUBJECTS,  CLASSIFIED  BY  AGE  AND  SEX 


Richmond. 

Ages 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

Av. 

P.E. 

Boys 

57 

71 

73 

74 

68 

69 

92 

124 

78.5 

4.2 

Girls 

89 

67 

85 

70 

80 

83 

94 

72 

80.0 

2.3 

Fredericksburg. 

Boys 
Girls 

•• 

52 
92 

58 

93 
100 

52 
87 

62 

61 
31 

64.5 
71.7 

5.9 
7.3 

Newport  News. 

Boys 

.  . 

71 

71 

71.0 

.0 

Girls 

59 

60 

60 

39 

.  . 

54.5 

3.4 

COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES.  65 

TABLE  XVII. 

COMPLETION  TEST—PERCENTAGE  OF  THE  SCORE  OP  THE  WHITE  OBTAINED 
BY  THE  COLORED  SUBJECTS,  CLASSIFIED  BY  GRADES 

Richmond. 
Grades  5A     5B     6A     6B     7A     7B     1A     2A     3A     4A     Av.     P.E. 

85      87      81      73      83      62      81      89      91      85     81.7       1.5 

Fredericksburg. 
..  ..  74  ..  90  ..  69  78  67  83  76.8  2.3 

Newport  News. 
61  61.0  .. 

TABLE  XVIII. 

COMPLETION  TEST — PERCENTAGE  OF  COLORED  SUBJECTS    REACHING    OR 
EXCEEDING  THE  AVERAGE  OF  THE  WHITE,  BY  AGE  AND  SEX  AND 

BY  GRADES 

Richmond. 
Ages  11      12      13      14      15      16      17      18  Av.     P.E. 

Boys  0      14     26      35      25      21      56      83      ..       ..     32.5       5.7 

Girls  33        9      41      17      19      24      48        7      ....     24.7       3.6 

Grades  5A     5B     6A     6B     7A     7B     1A     2A     3A     4A 

33      34     20      15      32       0      26      29      48      28     26.5      2.3 

The  racial  differences  are  very  similar  in  all  respects  to 
those  brought  out  by  the  mixed  relations  test.  They  are 
equally  constant  in  the  two  tests,  the  small  probable  errors 
render  them  equally  valid,  and  they  are  of  approximately 
equal  amounts.  This  was  to  be  expected,  since  the  two  tests 
deal  in  general  with  the  same  mental  traits,  and  the  results 
from  the  two  serve  to  reinforce  and  establish  the  validity  of 
each  other.  The  results  from  the  two  tests  and  the  three 
cities  and  in  the  various  modes  of  comparison  make  it  in- 
dubitable that  in  the  important  mental  capacities  measured 
whites  are  much  superior  to  negroes. 

Just  how  much  the  whites  are  superior  in  the  traits  meas- 
ured it  is  impossible  to  say.  For  we  do  not  know  the  zero 
point  of  the  tests.  Averaging  the  results  from  the  mixed 
relations  tests,  I  and  II,  and  from  the  completion  test,  we  find 
that  in  the  tests  themselves  the  negroes  did  78.7  per  cent,  as 
well  as  the  whites.  But  we  cannot  say  more  than  this.  We 
cannot  say  that  the  negroes  have  78.7  per  cent,  of  the  ability 
of  the  whites,  for  we  have  no  index  of  where  the  ability  in 
question  begins. 


66 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 


Maze  Test 

The  scores  for  the  maze  test  are  set  forth  in  Tables  19 
and  20.  These  tables,  so  far  as  they  concern  Richmond,  are 
made  plainer  by  Figures  10-12.  An  examination  of  these  fig- 
ures shows  that  in  every  age  for  each  sex,  and  in  every  grade 
except  one,  the  whites  covered  a  greater  distance  and  made 
more  touches  than  did  the  negroes.  This  seems  to  be  a  racial 
difference  for  the  subjects  tested.  It  appears  in  the  Freder- 
icksburg  results  as  well  as  in  those  of  Richmond.  The  negroes 
were  more  careful  than  the  whites.  The  significance  of  this 
is  difficult  to  tell.  And  it  becomes  especially  difficult  when  it 
is  considered  in  connection  with  the  fact,  which  will  appear, 
that  the  negroes  were  not  more  careful  in  the  cancellation 
test. 

TABLE  XIX. 
MAZE  TEST — SCORES  BY  AGE  AND  SEX 


Ages 

Boys — white 

Touches  Av. 

A.D. 
Distance   Av. 

A.D. 

Boys — Col. 
Touches  Av. 

A.D. 
Distance  Av. 

A.D. 

Girls — white 
Touches  Av. 

A.D. 
Distance  Av. 

A.D. 

Girls— Col. 
Touches  Av. 

A.D. 
Distance  Av. 

A.D. 


10       11 


Richmond. 

12        13        14 


15        16 


17 


18        19 


..     39.7     48.6  48.2  45.5  57.2     63.3        

..     20.2     19.6  27.8  26.1  19.5     25.0        

. .     94.4  103.2  99.7  99.4  113.8  123.0        

..     20.2     23.8  27.3  22.6  20.6     22.6        

34.4     35.5  31.6  33.7  28.1  14.5     30.0     43.8     16.7 

..     14.8     23.0  19.7  21.8  22.5  7.7     24.2     31.5     11.7 

..     88.6     90.1  84.4  93.8  83.0  83.2     91.1  104.5     76.0 

..     12.6    23.9  22.6  28.0  20.2  9.0    23.0    21.5    30.0 

54.0     60.0  41.0  44.3  59.6 

..     16.3     22.6  18.0  26.4  13.3        

. .   113.7  117.0  110.8  103.8  119.3        

. .     13.0     22.0  20.4  25.3  13.7        

34.6     21.0     27.2  28.9  35.8  39.0  35.0     21.5     19.2     16.6 

16.0    15.2    15.9  19.4  22.7  25.4  25.3     16.7     10.5    10.0 

93.6     80.1     84.8  86.2  97.3  101.4  99.0     89.9     86.0     70.6 

6.0     27.1     23.7  22.9  24.3  17.5  25.5     18.9     17.5     20.6 

Fredericksburg. 


Boys  —  white 

Touches  Av. 

.  . 

.  . 

32.4 

30.7 

17.0 

25.3 

38.5 

1  9 

A.D. 

t 

21.0 

7.2 

9.0 

15.3 

8.3 

t 

Distance  Av. 

111.2 

112.7 

88.6 

107.0 

111.0 

A.D. 

m  , 

.  . 

19.1 

20.2 

12.6 

23.6 

9.3 

Boys—  Col. 

Touches  Av. 

26.6 

22.5 

f 

36.6 

41.0 

14.0 

34.0 

A.D. 

12.6 

19.5 

t  . 

6.6 

36.8 

t 

6.0 

24.5 

Distance  Av  

76.3 

70.0 

.  . 

95.0 

80.8 

t 

69.5 

97.5 

A.D  

13.6 

26.0 

14.6 

34.0 

2.5 

32.5 

Girls  —  white 

Touches  Av. 

9  9 

a  . 

13.6 

24.2 

11.0 

17.6 

8.0 

t 

A.D. 

.  . 

4.6 

15.2 

8.0 

9.4 

4.0 

.  . 

COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES. 


67 


Ages 
Distance  Av. 

A.D. 

Girls— Col. 
Touches  Av. 

A.D. 
Distance  Av. 

A.D. 

Boys— Col. 
Touches  Av. 

A.D. 
Distance  Av. 

A.D. 

Girls— Col. 
Touches  Av. 

A.D. 
Distance  Av. 

A.D. 


10       11        12       13 


14       15       16        17       18 

84.6     94.0     85.0     97.4     68.0 

7.3     13.5    20.3       5.6      1.0 


19 


. .  13.0  11.3 

. .  9.5  6.7 

. .  68.7  58.5 

. .  21.2  14.3 

Newport  News. 


6.3 
4.3 

58.6 
14.0 


25.5 
6.5 

76.0 
3.0 


10.3  22.0  54.5 

7.7  10.0  44.5 
65.8  84.0  99.5 

8.8  0  40.0 


5.0 

3.0 

56.5 

7.5 


9.5 

3.0 

63.5 

11.0 


17.4  10.6  7.0 

20.7  6.6  7.2 

72.2  54.0  59.2 

23.7  16.0  15.8 


6.0 

4.0 

59.3 

6.3 


10.3 

5.0 

61.6 

14.0 


Grades 
White 
Touches  Av. 

A.D. 
Distance  Av. 

A.D. 
Colored 
Touches  Av. 

A.D. 
Distance  Av. 

A.D. 

White 
Touches  Av. 

A.D. 
Distance  Av. 

A.D. 
Colored 
Touches  Av. 

A.D. 
Distance  Av. 

A.D. 

Colored 
Touches  Av. 

A.D. 
Distance  Av. 

A.D. 


TABLE  XX. 
MAZE  TEST — SCORES  BY  GRADES 

Richmond. 

5A     5B      6A     6B     7A     7B     1A     2A     2B     3A      4A 

53.6    46.9  41.7  38.6    40.2    61.1 

22.5    23.4  23.1  22.0    24.8    17.7       

106.5106.6  95.5  97.0103.0123.7       

21.3    24.0  25.3  23.2    22.9    13.7 


38.3    26.0    21.7    18.6    46.1    46.7  31.2i  34.3    33.9 

20.6    18.3    13.4    14.7    15.9    26.9  21.3  24.2    23.7 

100.4    85.3    70.7    69.5111.7103.3  94.6  98.7101.0 

23.1    21.7    14.5    20.2    15.2    24.5  19.3  18.0    25.0 

Fredericksburg. 


26.1 
16.5 
94.2 
24.4 


24.6 
15.7 
92.2 
20.4 


19.2       ..    16.5       . 
15.4       ..    11.1 
67.1       ..    72.1 
18.8       ..    20.4 
Newport  News. 


31.6  13.5 

17.7  8.4 
104.6  87.3 

22.3  13.0 

10.5  21.8 

5.7  16.2 

61.2  83.0 

14.2  16.0 


20.5  16.8 

15.2  9.0 

84.2  81.8 

17.9  20.0 


19.9  25.8 

11.0  15.3 
97.9  102.7 

16.7  17.8 

24.5  31.7 

14.5  25.7 

78.3  90.7 

14.8  28.0 


13.1 
11.5 
67.5 
16.6 


6.8 

5.0 

55.6 

13.4 


It  is  not  apparent  that  there  is  any  general  increase  or 
decrease  in  either  the  distance  covered  or  the  number  of 
touches,  or  in  the  ratio  between  the  two,  as  the  age  of  the 
pupils  advances.  The  difference  in  ages,  indeed,  may  fairly  be 
disregarded. 


68 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 


Fig.  10.    Maze  Test — Scores  of  White  and  Colored  Boys — Richmond.* 
*The  total  height  of  the  columns  indicates  the  score  for  distance; 
the  height  of  the  cross-lines  indicates  the  score  for  touches. 


COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES. 


69 


AM 

Fig.  11.    Maze  Test— Scores  of  White  and  Colored  Girls— Richmond. 


70 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 


SCORE 

110 


100 


to 
70 
io 
50 
10 

30 
SO 
10 


5  A 
Fig.  12.    Maze  Test— Score  of  White  and  Colored  Grades— Richmond. 


COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES.  71 

When  we  attempt  to  decide  which  race  was  superior  in  this 
test  we  encounter  the  difficulty  in  evaluating  speed  and  ac- 
curacy that  was  discussed  in  the  preceding  chapter.  Tables 
21-25  give  the  detailed  comparisons  for  both  speed  and  accu- 
racy— distance  and  touches.  The  Fredericksburg  compari- 
sons, on  the  whole,  are  fairly  sure,  although  the  probable 
errors  are  large.  The  tables  show  that  in  Fredericksburg  the 
colored  subjects  exceeded  the  white  subjects  in  number  of 
touches  made,  but  were  inferior  to  them  in  distance  covered, 
and  that  this  was  true  for  both  sexes  and  for  the  grades.  The 
negroes  attained  less  speed  and  were  at  the  same  time  more 
inaccurate.  Consequently  they  were  inferior  to  the  whites. 

But  in  Richmond  a  conclusion  cannot  be  drawn  so  readily. 
Here  the  colored  subjects  were  slower,  as  in  Fredericksburg, 
but,  unlike  those  in  Fredericksburg,  they  were  also  more  accu- 
rate than  the  whites.  The  colored  boys  covered  86.6  per  cent,  of 
the  distance  covered  by  the  white  boys  and  made  69.6  per  cent. 
as  many  touches.  The  colored  girls  scored  79.8  per  cent,  of 
the  distance  of  the  white  girls  and  60.2  per  cent,  as  many 
touches  as  the  white  girls.  The  scores  for  the  grades  show 
that  the  colored  pupils  scored  for  distance  and  touches,  re- 
spectively, 85.2  per  cent,  and  70.0  per  cent,  as  high  as  did  the 
white  pupils.  These  figures  are  fairly  uniform  for  the  differ- 
ent classifications  of  the  subjects,  and  their  probable  errors 
are  sufficiently  small  for  reliability.  If  we  average  the  per- 
centages given  for  boys,  girls  and  grades,  we  find  that  the 
negroes  covered  84  per  cent,  as  great  distance  as  the  whites 
and  made  67  per  cent,  as  many  errors. 

TABLE  XXI. 

MAZE    TEST — DIFFERENCE    BETWEEN     SCORES    OF    WHITE   AND    COL- 
ORED SUBJECTS  CLASSIFIED  BY  AGE  AND  SEX 
(Minus  signs  indicate  greater  scores  by  the  colored  subects.) 

Richmond. 

Ages  11         12        13         14        15        16        17        18      Av.   P.E. 

Boys 

Touches         5.3      13.1      16.6      11.8     29.1         15.2     2.3 

Distance         5.8      13.1      15.3       5.6      30.8         14.1     2.7 

Girls 

Touches        33.0      32.8      12.1       8.5      20.6         21.4      3.5 

Distance        33.6      32.2      24.6       6.5      17.9         23.0      3.3 

Fredericksburg. 


Touches  _5.9_24.0  ..      24.5  —1.8  8.6 

Distance  17.7        7.8  ..      41.5  22,3  6.3 

Girls 

Touches  2.3  17.9—14.5  7.3—14.0  —.2  4.3 

Distance  26.1  35.4       9.0  31.6  —16.0  17.2  6.3 


72  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

TABLE  XXII. 

MAZE  TEST—DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN  SCORES    OF  WHITE    AND    COLORED 
SUBJECTS  CLASSIFIED  BY  GRADES 

(Minus  signs  indicate  greater  scores  by  the  colored  subjects.) 

Richmond. 

Grades  5A     5B     6A     6B         7A     7B     1A     2A     3A     4A    Av.  P.E 

Touches  15.3  20.9  20.0  20.0     —5.9  14.4  .   14.1  2.3 

Distance  6.1  21.3  24.8  27.5     -—8.7  20.4      15.2  3.8 

Fredericksburg. 

Touches  ..       ..6.9      ..         8.1      ..  21.1—8.3—4.6—5.9     2.9  3.2 

Distance  . .       . .  27.1      . .       20.1      . .  43.4     4.3  19.6  12.0  21.1  3.3 

TABLE  XXIII. 

MAZE  TEST — PERCENTAGE  OF  THE  SCORE  OF  THE  WHITE   OBTAINED   BY 
THE  COLORED  SUBJECTS,  CLASSIFIED  BY  AGE  AND  SEX 

Richmond. 

Ages  11   12   13   14  15   16   17   18   Av.  P.E. 
Boys 

Touches  87   73   65   74   49   69.6   3.8 

Distance  94   87   85   94   73   86.6   2.2 

Girls 

Touches  39       45       70       81       66       60.2       5.7 

Distance  70       72       78      94      85       79.8      2.9 

Fredericksburg. 
Boys 

Touches                      119     241       ..       36     132.0     36.1 

Distance                      84       91       ..       63       79.3       5.4 

Girls 

Touches                       84  25     232       59     275     135.0     36.2 

Distance                      89  62      89       67     124       86.2      6.4 

TABLE  XXIV. 

MAZE  TEST — PERCENTAGE  OF  THE  SCORE  OF  THE  WHITE   OBTAINED   BY 
THE  COLORED  SUBJECTS,  CLASSIFIED  BY  GRADES 

Richmond. 

Grades  5A    5B    6A    6B    7A    7B    1A    2A    3A    4A    Av.     P.E. 

Touches                       72     56     52     49  115     76 70.0  6.3 

Distance                      94     80     74     72  108     83 85.2  3.5 

Fredericksburg. 

Touches                       . .      . .     73     . .     68     . .  34  164  123  123  97.5  13.5 

Distance                      . .      . .     71     . .     78     . .  59     95     80     88  78.5  3.2 

TABLE   XXV. 

MAZE  TEST — PERCENTAGE  OF  COLORED  SUBJECTS  REACHING  OR  EXCEED- 
ING THE  AVERAGE  OF  THE  WHITE  ,  BY  AGE  AND  SEX  AND 
BY  GRADES 

Richmond. 

Ages        11     12     13     14     15          Av.    P.E. 
Boys 

Touches      40     20     22     29     14     ..     25.0     2.9 
Distance      40     30     39     35     14          31.6     2.9 


COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES.  73 

Ages  11  12  13  14  15                       Av.  PJB. 

Girls 

Touches  0  10  35  30  22  ..           19.4  45 

Distance  25  20  29  41  19  ..           26.8  2.5 

Grades  5A          5B          6A          6B         7A         7B 

Touches  26  19  14  14  68  35  29.3  5.2 

Distance  41          22          11  14          68          35          31.8          5.6 

The  percentages  of  colored  subjects  reaching  or  exceeding 
the  average  of  the  white  shqw  the  same  relative  standing  for  the 
two  races  in  touches  and  distance  traversed  as  is  evident  from 
the  preceding  figures.  These  percentages  are  as  follows:  Boys — 
Touches,  25.0,  Distance,  31.6;  Girls— Touches,  19.4,  Distance, 
26.8;  Grades — Touches,  29.3,  Distance,  31.8.  If  we  average 
the  percentages  for  boys,  girls  and  grades,  as  before,  we  find 
that  25  per  cent,  of  the  negroes  reached  the  average  of  the 
whites  in  touches,  and  that  30  per  cent,  of  them  reached  the 
average  of  the  whites  in  distance. 

Do  these  facts  indicate  that  the  colored  subjects  were 
superior,  inferior  or  equal  to  the  white?  A  reference  to  the 
graphs  will  make  it  evident  that  a  large  score  for  distance 
implies  a  relatively  higher  score  for  touches  than  does  a  small 
score  for  distance.  The  ratio  of  touches  to  distance  becomes 
greater  as  distance  increases.  And  this  change  in  the  ratio 
takes  place  with  marked  constancy  throughout  the  graphs. 
It  is  normal  for  the  smaller  of  two  scores  for  distance  to  have 
a  relatively  smaller  score  for  errors.  The  question  to  be  set- 
tled in  this  comparison  is  whether  a  distance  84  per  cent, 
as  great  as  another  distance  normally  implies  67  per  cent, 
as  many  touches  for  the  former  distance  as  for  the  latter. 
If  so,  it  is  apparent  that  there  is  no  difference  between  the 
ability  of  the  white  and  the  colored  subjects  in  this  test.  And 
the  following  considerations  indicate  that  such  is  the  case. 

Since  the  score  of  the  negroes  for  distance  is  84  per  cent, 
of  that  of  the  whites,  100  may  be  taken  to  represent  the  actual 
distance  score  of  the  whites  and  84  to  represent  the  actual 
distance  score  of  the  negroes.  Now  a  reference  to  the  graphs 
shows  that  colored  grades  5A  and  7B,  and  colored  girls  aged 
14  and  15,  scored  approximately  100  for  distance.  And  the 
average  number  of  touches  made  by  these  four  groups  of  col- 
ored pupils  was  40,  the  variation  being  slight.  A  further  ref- 
erence to  the  graphs  shows  that  colored  grade  5B,  colored 
girls  aged  11,  12  and  13,  and  colored  boys  aged  11,  13  and  15, 


74  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

scored  approximately  84  for  distance.  And  the  average  num- 
ber of  touches  made  by  these  seven  groups  of  colored  pupils 
was  28,  the  variation  again  being  slight.  Here  we  have  two 
sets  of  colored  pupils  scoring  100  and  84,  respectively,  for  dis- 
tance, and  40  and  28  for  errors.  Twenty-eight  is  70  per  cent, 
of  40,  and  84  is  84  per  cent,  of  100.  Thus  we  have  the  slower 
set  of  colored  pupils  attaining  84  per  cent,  as  great  distance 
as  the  faster  set,  and  making  70  per  cent,  as  many  errors. 
But  these  are  approximately  the  figures  which  represent  the 
difference  between  the  whites  and  the  negroes.  So  it  seems 
that  we  can  confidently  conclude  that  there  is  no  racial  differ- 
ence in  ability  revealed  by  the  maze  test.  Wherever  the  ne- 
groes work  as  rapidly  as  the  whites,  they  make  approximately 
the  same  number  of  errors. 

The  graphs  show  no  records  of  white  subjects  with  as  small 
scores  as  84  for  distance,  and  we  therefore  cannot  ascertain 
the  actual  number  of  errors  made  by  whites  who  worked  as 
slowly  as  the  assumed  average  of  the  negroes.  But  there  is 
no  reason  for  believing  there  would  have  been  any  appreciable 
racial  difference  if  slow  white  records  had  occurred.  When 
we  compare  the  white  groups  who  attained  a  distance  of  100, 
the  assumed  average  of  the  whites,  with  the  colored  groups 
who  worked  rapidly  enough  to  attain  this  distance,  we  find  the 
number  of  errors  made  by  the  two  groups  to  be  about  the 
same.  White  grades  6 A,  6B  and  7 A,  white  girls  aged  14,  and 
white  boys  aged  12,  13  and  14,  scored  approximately  100  for 
distance.  And  the  average  number  of  errors  of  these  seven 
groups,  the  variation  being  small,  was  44.  In  the  preceding 
paragraph  it  was  pointed  out  that  the  four  colored  groups 
who  worked  at  this  speed  scored  an  average  of  40  errors.  The 
difference  between  the  two  sets  of  pupils,  white  and  colored, 
is  thus  inconsiderable. 

Finally,  the  reader  may  be  referred  to  the  white  and  col- 
ored columns  in  the  graphs  themselves.  An  inspection  shows 
that  wherever  the  column  for  the  whites  approaches  that  for 
the  negroes  in  total  height,  representing  distance,  the  cross- 
lines  on  the  two  columns,  representing  errors,  correspondingly 
approach  equality.  And  within  the  colored  columns  them- 
selves, as  within  the  white  columns,  greater  total  height  means 
not  only  an  absolutely  but  a  relatively  greater  height  for  the 
cross-lines. 

On  the  whole,  while  the  whites  were  superior  to  the  negroes 


COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES. 


75 


in  Fredericksburg  in  the  motor  ability  tested,  they  were  not 
superior  in  Richmond.  Greater  weight  shguld  be  attached  to 
the  Richmond  results  on  account  of  the  larger  number  of  sub- 
jects tested  there. 

Cancellation  Test 

The  records  for  the  cancellation  test  are  set  forth  in  Ta- 
bles 26  and  27,  and  in  Figures  13-15.  A  fairly  regular  in- 
crease in  the  scores  with  age  may  be  noted. 


TABLE  XXVI. 
CANCELLATION  TEST — SCORES  BY  AGE  AND  SEX 


Ages 

Boys — white 

Omissions    Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations   Av. 

A.D. 

Boys — Col. 
Omissions  Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations    Av. 

A.D. 

Girls — white 
Omissions   Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations  Av. 

A.D. 

Girls— Col. 
Omissions  Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations  Av. 

A.D. 


Boys — white 
Omissions    Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations    Av. 

A.D. 

Boys — Col. 
Omissions  Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations  Av. 

A.D. 

Girls — white 
Omissions    Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations    Av. 

A.D. 

Girls— Col. 
Omissions    Av. 

A.D. 
Cancellations    Av. 

A.D. 


10 


Richmond. 

11       12       13      14 


15       16       17       18       19 


1.0  3.2 

1.0  2.2 

50.3  62.7 

6.8  11.1 


2.8 

2.4 

57.7 

12.3 


3.2 
2.3 

59.1 
8.1 


1.6 

1.1 

62.7 

8.2 


2.0 
.6 

65.3 
3.0 


..      4.5  1.7  2.0  2.6  5.1  2.5  2.0  2.0  4.5 

. .      5.5  1.8  1.8  2.6  4.0  1.5  2.0  1.0  1.5 

..   43.6  58.6  52.6  66.2  68.6  74.4  69.8  93.8  93.7 

11.6  8.6  7.1  8.1  12.8  13.7  6.4  4.5  2.2 


.8  2.5 

.8  2.2 

53.0  61.4 

7.5  8.8 


2.0  1.6 

2.0  1.7 

60.3  59.4 

2.3  11.3 


3.3 

2.3 

65.3 

11.4 


1.8 

1.6 

63.0 

7.4 

3.0 

2.6 

69.7 

9.9 


2.9 

1.9 

71.2 

14.7 

2.7 

1.8 

74.4 

13.1 


Fredericksburg. 


1.3 

1.0 

53.3 

5.0 


1.5 

1.5 

45.0 

3.0 


3.1 

1.8 

54.7 

6.7 


3.6 

2.4 

63.9 

11.4 


3.3  1.0  . . 

1.6  0. 

58.6  55.5  .. 

4.6  2.5  . . 

1.5  1.5  2.2 

1.1  1.1  2.0 

56.3  61.0  67.7 

8.0  10.3  13.2 


1.6  2.0 

.6  1.8 

68.8  63.9 

10.6  10.3 


3.5 

1.0 

64.5 

7.5 

3.4 

2.9 
81.2 
13.0 


3.7 

3.8 

66.8 

10.2 


2.9 

2.6 

84.9 

11.2 


2.3 

2.3 

72.1 

17.0 


9.6  2.2 

8.0  1.0 

70.6  76.2 

17.3  13.4 


3.3 

3.0 

73.3 

6.3 

.6 
.6 

66.0 
7.3 


1.8 

1.5 

72.0 

13.0 

5.5 

.5 

94.5 
.5 


1.8  3.4  0. 
1.4  2.1  0. 

89.8  87.0  87.6 

8.9  8.8  10.6 


2.0  2.3  . . 

2.0  1.6  . . 

72.8  78.3  .. 

16.5  7.0  . . 

. .  1.5  5.5 

. .  1.5  4.5 

..  90.0  81.2 

. .  5.0  2.7 

1.0  4.0 

.8  4.0  . . 

75.2  74.5  .. 

12.6  4.5  . . 

3.2  2.0  2.5 

2.0  0.  1.5 

84.7  81.5  70.5 
9.7  16.5  25.5 


76 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 


Newport  News. 


Ages 
Boys  —  white 
Omissions  Av. 
A.D. 
Cancellations  Av. 
A.D. 
Boys—  Col. 
Omissions  Av. 
A.D. 
Cancellations  Av. 
A.D. 
Girls—  white 
Omissions    Av. 
A.D. 
Cancellafions  Av. 
A.D. 
Girls—  Col. 
Omissions  Av. 
A.D. 
Cancellations  Av. 
A.D. 

CA] 

Grades 
White 
Omissions  Av. 
A.D. 
Cancellations  Av. 
A.D. 
Colored 
Omissions   Av. 
A.D. 
Cancellations    Av. 
A.D. 

White 
Omissions   Av. 
A.D. 
Cancellations  Av. 
A.D. 
Colored 
Omissions    Av. 
A.D. 
Cancellations  Av. 
A.D. 

White 
Omissions  Av. 
A.D. 
Cancellations  Av. 
A.D. 
Colored 
Omissions   Av. 
A.D. 
Cancellations  Av. 
A.D. 

10      11       12      13      14      15      16 

.3      1.5      1.5      1.6     4.0 
.3        .9      1.6      1.1      3.0       .. 
.  .    67.0    53.4    59.8    63.1    56.7 

17      18      19 

..      6.0     8.0     8.7     8.1    20.2       .. 
0.                 2.2 



.  .     0.         .  .      1.2 

.  .    49.0       .  .    69.5 

..     0.         ..      7.0 



.4      2.6      2.4      2.8      3.7      2.0 

.4     2.6     2.4     2.1     2.7     2.0 
..    52.4    60.7    57.4    71.0    63.0   72.5 
..      6.0     9.8    11.3    11.7    9.5    15.5 

3.7      1.4     1.6      1.6     9.0 
3.0        .8      1.5      1.3      6.6 



..    63.4    57.4  62.6    56.3    80.3 
..       ..    13.5     6.8      7.3      7.0     8.3 

TABLE  XXVII. 

fCELLATION    TEST  —  SCORES   BY    GRADES 

Richmond. 

5A    5B     6A     6B    7A    7B     1A    2A 
2  6     3.0     1.5     1.7     2.5     2.1 

2B     3A     4A 

1.8     2.9     1.1     1.5     2.1     1.4 

61.6  55.2  54.4  65.5  62.8  66.8 

99     74  11  0  12  6     82  100 

4.0     3.4     1.4     2.8     3.7     5.5     2.9     2.2 
3.5     3.3     1.3     2.4     2.8     4.5     2.3     1.9 
60.2  58.3  63.1  65.6  81.6  74.5  77.4  82.4 
10.9     9.5     9.0     8.6  11.2  11.2  12.7  14.0 

Fredericksburg. 

..     2.3      ..     3.3      ..     2.0     1.9 
.  .     2.2      .  .     2.8      .  .     1.8     1.2 
.  .       .  .  53.0      .  .  62.3      .  .   67.0  74.9 
..      ..     6.5      ..     9.9      ..     7.8    9.9 

3.0              1.7              2.1     4.3 
..       ..2.9      ..1.0      ..     1.1     2.5 
.  .       .  .   57.7      .  .  79.5      .  .  76.4  88.3 
..      ..     6.5      ..     7.7      ..  15.3     8.5 

Newport  News. 
2.2    2.5     1.5 

2.6    2.4    2.1 
1.9     1.9     1.7 
89.1  86.4  87.1 
8.7     9.1  10.0 

2.6     2.3 
.  .     2.0     2.0 
..  72.1  74.9 
.  .   14.7  13.8 

3.3     2.2 
.  .     1.8     2.0 
.  .  82.0  78.1 
.  .     9.5  12.5 

2.1     2.5     1.2 

::  ::  : 

58.4  62.7  63.1      .  .      .  . 
11.3    9.0  13.0      .  . 

2.0      ..     4.6      .. 

..      ..2.0      ..3.4      

..       ..   58.5      ..  70.0      
..       ..     9.4      ..     8.8      



COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES. 


77 


Fig.  13.  Cancellation  Test — Scores  of  White  and  Colored  Boys — 
Richmond.* 

"The  total  height  of  the  columns  indicates  the  score  for  cancellations; 
the  height  of  the  cross-lines  indicates  the  score  for  omissions. 

A  reference  to  the  graphs  will  show  that  there  is  no  con- 
stant relation  between  the  omissions  and  the  cancellations, 
and  that  in  all  cases  the  omissions  were  very  few.  Only  a 
small  number  of  pupils,  less  than  one-half,  made  any  omissions 
at  all.  This  accounts  for  the  large  deviations  of  the  scores 
for  omissions  as  shown  in  the  tables  mentioned,  and  for  the 
very  erratic  behavior  of  these  scores  in  the  tables  of  ccompari- 
son,  Tables  28-32.  On  the  whole,  the  negroes  seem  to  have  made 


78 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 


AGE 


Fig.   14.     Cancellation   Test— Scores   of   White   and   Colored   Girls- 
Richmond. 

slightly  more  omissions  than  the  whites,  but  the  size  of  the 
probable  errors  indicates  that  this  may  have  been  a  chance 
occurence.  Certainly  the  negro  girls,  who,  as  will  appear, 
are  definitely  superior  to  the  white  girls  in  cancellations,  do 
not  show  as  great  excess  in  omissions  as  do  the  negro  boys, 
and  the  negro  boys  are  not  superior  to  the  white  boys  in  can- 
cellations at  all.  The  omissions,  therefore,  will  be  disregarded 


COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES. 


79 


SCORE 
70 


Fig.  15. 
Richmond. 


Cancellation  Test — Scores  of  White  and  Colored  Grades — 

J 


in  the  following  comparisons.  It  may  be  mentioned  that  the 
peculiarity  noted  above  in  the  performance  of  the  maze  test 
by  the  two  races,  wherein  the  negroes  made  uniformly  smaller 
scores  and  thus  seemed  to  be  more  careful  than  the  whites, 
does  not  occur  in  the  test  for  cancellation. 

Another  matter  that  may  be  remarked  is  that  the  large 
deviations  of  the  scores  for  omission  is  in  decided  contrast 
with  the  small  deviations  of  the  cancellation  scores,  when  the 
two  sets  of  deviations  are  compared  with  the  relative  size  of 
the  scores  themselves.  That  is,  the  so-called  coefficients  of 
variation  are  larger  for  omissions  than  for  cancellations.  A 
similar  situation  appeared  in  the  maze  test.  Here  the  devia- 


80  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

tions  of  the  scores  for  touches  were  as  large  as  those  of  the 
scores  for  distance,  while  the  former  scores  were  not  over 
one-third  as  large  as  the  latter.  Now  both  omissions  and 
touches  are  measures  of  accuracy  and  both  cancellations  and 
distance  are  measures  of  speed;  the  two  tests  measure  the 
same  phenomena,  one  in  the  field  of  movement  and  the  other 
in  the  field  of  perception  and  reaction.  And  in  both  tests  there 
is  greater  uniformity  in  speed  of  performance  than  in  accuracy. 

TABLE  XXVIII. 

CANCELLATION   TEST — DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN    SCORES  OF  WHITE    AND 
COLORED  SUBJECTS  CLASSIFIED  BY  AGE  AND  SEX 

(Minus  signs  indicate  greater  scores  by  the  colored  subjects.) 

Richmond. 

Ages  11        12        13        14        15        16        17        18    Av.P.E. 

Boys 

Omissions  —  3.5       1.5         .8         .6—3.5         —    .8     .8 

CanTt'ns          6.7        4.1        5.1  —  7.1  —  5.9         6  2.2 

Girls 

Omissions  —    .8  —    .8  —  1.2         .2         .1         —    .5     .2 

CanTt'ns    —  6.4  —  3.9  —  6.7  —  3.2  —16.7         —  7.4  1.4 

Fredericksburg. 
Boys 

Omissions  . .  . .  2.1  . .  —  5.9  .1  . .  .8  —  .7  1.0 
CanTt'ns  . .  —  .8  ..  —  3.8  —  4.1  . .  —11.7  —  5.1  1.4 

Girls  |  ;* 

Omissions  . .  . .  —  .1  .2  2.7  —  3.7  —  2.2  2.0  —  .2  .6 
Can'l't'ns  . .  . .  —  7.8  3.8  7.3  —22.5  —  9.5  —  7.0  —  5.9  2.7 

Newport  News. 
Boys 

Omissions         . .        1.5         . .  —     .6         4    .6 

Can'lt'ns  . .        4.4         . .  —  6.4         —  1.0  3.2 

Girls 

Omissions          . .  —  1.1        1.0        1.2       2.1         8     .4 

Can'l't'ns  . .  —  2.7       0.         8.4        6.7  . .        3.1  1.8 

TABLE  XXIX. 
CANCELLATION   TEST— DIFFERENCE   BETWEEN   SCORES    OF   WHITE    AND 

COLORED  SUBJECTS  CLASSIFIED  BY  GRADES 
(Minus  signs  indicate  greater  scores  by  the  colored  subjects.) 

Richmond. 
Grades 

§A  5B  6A  6B  7A  7B  1A  2A  3A  4A  Av.'.  P.E 
Omissions 

—1.4  _  .4         .1  _i.i  _  1.2  —3.4         —1.2      .3 

Cancellations 

1.4  —3.1  —8.7  —  .1  —18.8  —7.7         —6.2   2.0 

Fredericksburg. 
Omissions 

. .  —  .7        . .         1.6        ..  —  .1  —  2.4   —  .7          .1  —  .4     .3 
Cancellations 

..  —4.7        ..  —17.2        ..  —9.4—13.4    —9.9    —3.2—9.6    1.4 

Newport  News. 
Omissions 

—  2.1         —2.1 

Cancellations 

—  7.3  .  —7.3 


COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES. 


81 


TABLE  XXX. 

CANCELLATION  TEST — PERCENTAGE  OP  THE  SCORE  OP  THE  WHITE  OB- 
TAINED BY  THE  COLORED  SUBJECTS,  CLASSIFIED  BY  AGE  AND  SEX 


Ages 

Boys 

Omissions 

Cancellations 

Girls 

Omissions 

Cancellations 

Boys 

Omissions 

Cancellations 

Girls 

Omissions 

Cancellations 

Boys 

Omissions 

Cancellations 

Girls 

Omissions 

Cancellations 


11       12 


Richmond. 

13       14       15 


450       53       71       81     319 
87       93       91     112     109 

200  132  167   93   97 

112  106  111  105  126 

Fredericksburg. 


16       17       18      Av.     PJE. 

194.8     57.2 

98.4      3.6 


137.8 
112.0 


14.1 
2.1 


0 
92 

141 
104 

32   .. 
102   .. 

107   91 
113   94 
Newport 

..  137 
..  110 

58   57 
100   88 

259 
106 

18 
90 
News. 

43 
89 

96 
106 

305 
131 

320 
113 

65 
115 

50 
109 

113.0 
107.2 

148.5 
108.3 

68.5 
101.0 

74.7 
95.2 

30.1 
1.5 

38.1 
3.8 

40.7 
5.4 

13.8 
2.8 

TABLE  XXXI. 

CANCELLATION  TEST — PERCENTAGE  OF  THE  SCORE  OP  THE  WHITE  OB- 
TAINED BY  THE  COLORED  SUBJECTS,  CLASSIFIED  BY  GRADES 

Richmond. 

5A  5B  6A  6B  7A  7B  1A  2A  3A  4A  Aw  P.E. 


Grades 

Omissions 
Cancellations 


Omissions 
Cancellations 

Omissions 
Cancellations 


154  113     93  165  148  262 
98  106  116  100  130  111 
Fredericksburg. 
..      ..130     ..     52     .. 
..      ..109     ..128     .. 
Newport  News. 

184     .. 

.   112 


155.8  13.2 

110.2    3.0 

105  226  127     96  122.7  13.2 
114  118  114  104  114.5     1.9 


184.0 
112.0 


TABLE  XXXII. 

CANCELLATION  TEST — PERCENTAGE  OF  COLORED  SUBJECTS  REACHING  OR 
EXCEEDING  THE  AVERAGE  OF  THE  WHITE  ,  BY  AGE  AND  SEX  AND 

BY  GRADES 


Ages 

Boys 

Cancellations 

Girls 

Cancellations 

Grades 
Cancellations 


11 

Richmond. 

12         13         14 

15 

Av. 

P.E. 

33 

31 

37 

78 

60 

47.8 

6.4 

67 

59 

74 

60 

81 

68.2 

2.8 

5A 

5B 

6A 

6B 

7A 

7B 

49 

63 

80 

55 

89 

67 

67.2 

3.8 

82  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

In  explanation  of  this  it  may  be  suggested  that  individuals 
differ  in  their  attitude  toward  the  tests  as  well  as  in  their 
ability  to  perform  them.  Of  course  those  who  emphasize 
speed  will  neglect  accuracy  and  those  who  emphasize  accuracy 
will  neglect  speed.  These  matters  will  normally  adjust  them- 
selves among  a  large  number  of  subjects,  and  the  final  scores 
for  accuracy  and  speed  will  not  be  affected.  But  with  refer- 
ence to  approximating  the  average  score  it  may  be  that  speed 
of  reaction  will  more  readily  take  care  of  itself  than  will 
accuracy  in  a  normal  performance  of  a  test.  At  the  start, 
subjects  are  set  to  attempt  a  performance  that  will  be  in 
large  measure  speedy,  and  at  least  a  reasonable  degree  of 
speed  is  put  forth  by  all.  Accuracy,  however,  requires  more 
constant  care  on  the  part  of  the  performer ;  neglect  of  accuracy 
is  not  so  apparent  to  him  while  he  is  reacting — he  may  not 
notice  the  omitted  letter  or  the  touch.  It  is  more  difficult  to 
gauge  and  to  control  accuracy  than  speed.  And  so,  unless 
there  is  a  very  careful  adjustment  of  attitude  toward  accuracy 
by  all  subjects,  it  will  vary  considerably,  while  speed  will  vary 
to  a  less  degree.  Consequently  a  greater  deviation  for  accuracy 
than  for  speed  is  to  be  expected  in  tests  involving  both  factors. 

The  tables  which  make  the  comparisons  between  whites 
and  negroes  in  cancellation  show  the  following  facts :  In  Rich- 
mond, the  colored  boys  obtained  98.4  per  cent,  of  the  score  of 
the  white  boys.  The  colored  girls  obtained  112.0  per  cent,  of 
the  score  of  the  white  girls.  And  when  classified  by  grades — 
the  grades  contain  a  larger  proportion  of  girls  than  of  boys — 
the  colored  pupils  obtained  110.2  per  cent,  of  the  score  of  the 
white  pupils.  This  inferiority  of  colored  to  white  boys  may 
be  disregarded,  since  it  falls  within  the  range  of  the  probable 
error.  It  may  be  said  that  the  boys  of  the  two  races  did  about 
equally  well.  But  the  colored  girls  and  the  colored  grades  are 
clearly  superior  to  the  white  girls  and  grades,  the  probable 
errors  in  these  cases  being  sufficiently  small  for  reliability. 

In  Fredericksburg,  the  colored  boys,  girls  and  grades  are 
all  definitely  superior  to  the  white.  In  Newport  News,  a  very 
slight  superiority  is  shown  by  the  colored  boys,  but  this  may 
be  discounted  as  was  the  inferiority  of  the  colored  boys  in 
Richmond.  The  colored  girls  seem  to  be  inferior  here,  but 
this  is  not  well  established  when  considered  in  connection  with 
the  probable  error.  The  grade  comparison  is  considerably 


COMPARISON  OF  WHITES  AND  NEGROES.  83 

in  favor  of  the  colored  pupils,  but  it  is  based  upon  figures 
from  only  one  grade  of  each  race. 

The  percentages  of  colored  subjects  reaching  or  exceeding 
the  average  of  the  white,  in  Richmond,  are  as  follows:  Boys, 
47.8 ;  Girls,  68.2 ;  Grades,  67.2.  As  in  the  former  comparison 
for  Richmond,  the  size  of  the  probable  errors  renders  it  un- 
safe to  say  there  was  any  real  difference  between  the  boys 
of  the  two  races;  but  the  colored  girls  and  grades  are  un- 
doubtedly superior. 

Taken  all  together,  the  figures  show  that  the  colored  girls 
are  superior  to  the  white  girls  in  the  traits  measured  by  this 
test,  and  that  the  colored  boys  are  not  appreciably  inferior  to 
the  white  boys.  This  sex  difference  between  the  races  is  in- 
teresting, but  no  satisfactory  explanation  of  it  suggests  itself. 
It  is  confirmed  by  Pyle  ('15),  in  the  study  previously  men- 
tioned. From  the  figures  which  he  gives  it  may  be  calculated 
that  in  the  "A  Test" — the  cancellation  test  used  here — the  col- 
ored boys  tested  by  him  obtained  98.4  per  cent,  of  the  score 
of  the  white  boys  and  the  colored  girls  obtained  108.2  per  cent, 
of  the  score  of  the  white  girls.  These  are  almost  identical 
with  the  figures  found  herein. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  said  that  no  other  constant  or 
reliable  racial  sex  difference  in  ability  is  indicated  by  this 
study.  The  scores  of  the  boys  of  both  races  were  generally, 
though  not  always,  slightly  lower  than  the  scores  of  the 
girls,  as  is  usually  the  case  in  psychological  tests.  And  on  the 
whole  there  is  a  slightly  smaller  difference  between  the  white 
and  negro  girls  than  between  the  white  and  negro  boys,  but 
this  is  not  at  all  invariably  true.  Pyle  states,  as  quoted  in 
Chapter  I,  that  in  the  tests  which  he  employed  the  girls  of  the 
two  races  stood  nearer  together  than  did  the  boys. 


f 


CHAPTER  IV 
COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSES  OF  NEGROES 

The  terms  negro  and  colored  have  been  used  interchange- 
ably in  this  study,  (except  in  the  tables  and  the  graphs) ,  and 
they  are  generally  so  used.  But  it  is  obvious  that  such  usage 
is  justified  only  by  convenience  and  not  by  fact.  The  so-called 
negroes  of  the  United  States  are  negroes  only  in  part ;  in  large 
measure  they  are  people  of  mixed  blood,  and  the  intermixture 
has  been  almost  entirely  with  the  white  race.  There  are  all 
degrees  of  intermixture,  ranging  from  almost  pure  negro 
to  almost  pure  white.  "Mulatto"  is  the  term  generally  em- 
ployed to  describe  persons  of  this  mixed  stock.  But  here 
again  the  usage  is  justified  only  by  convenience,  since  a 
mulatto,  strictly  speaking,  is  the  offspring  of  the  union  of  a 
pure  white  and  a  pure  negro.  The  terms  quadroon,  meaning 
the  child  of  a  mulatto  and  a  white,  and  consequently  three 
parts  white  and  one  part  negro ;  and  octoroon,  meaning  a  child 
of  a  white  and  a  quadroon,  seven  parts  white  and  one  part 
negro,  are  fairly  common.  But  there  is  no  recognized  term  to 
describe  the  racial  status  of  the  offspring  of  a  pure  negro 
and  a  mulatto,  who  is  three  parts  negro  and  one  part  white. 
"Sambo"  has  been  suggested  for  this  purpose,  but  the  popular 
connotation  of  the  word  is  not  such  as  to  convey  the  desired 
meaning.  And  there  are  no  widely  accepted  terms  to  describe 
other  degrees  of  race  admixture.  The  need  for  them  has  not 
been  felt. 

The  relative  number  of  pure  negroes  and  persons  of  part 
negro  blood  in  this  country  is  not  accurately  known.  The 
Federal  Census  has  made  an  attempt  to  determine  this,  and 
its  figures  are  the  most  reliable  that  we  have.  The  negroes 
were  classified  as  black  and  mulatto.  But  as  stated  in  the 
census  report  ('10,  p.  79) :  "Considerable  uncertainty  neces- 
sarily attaches  to  this  classification,  however,  since  the  ac- 

84 


COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSES  OF  NEGROES.  85 

curacy  of  the  distinction  made  depends  largely  upon  the  judg- 
ment and  care  of  the  enumerators.  Moreover,  the  fact  that 
the  definition  of  the  term  'mulatto*  adopted  at  different  cen- 
suses has  not  been  entirely  uniform  may  affect  the  compara- 
bility of  the  figures  in  some  degree.  In  1870,  as  in  1910, 
however,  the  term  was  applied  to  all  persons  having  any  per- 
ceptible trace  of  negro  blood,  excepting,  of  course,  negroes  of 
pure  blood."  The  census  shows  that  in  1910,  79  per  cent,  of 
the  negro  population  of  the  country  was  black  and  21  per  cent, 
mulatto — roughly  speaking,  there  were  about  eight  million 
blacks  and  two  million  mulattoes.  In  Virginia,  the  negro  pop- 
ulation was  67  per  cent,  black  and  33  per  cent,  mulatto.  In 
Richmond,  the  percentages  of  blacks  and  mulattoes  were  60 
and  40,  respectively. 

The  percentage  of  mulattoes  is  generally  higher  in  the 
cities  than  in  the  rural  districts.  In  Virginia,  the  five  cities 
with  a  population  of  25,000  or  over  have  an  average  of  43  per 
cent,  of  mulattoes  in  their  negro  populations.  This  figure, 
when  compared  with  the  mulatto  population  of  the  state,  is 
fairly  typical  of  the  larger  proportion  of  mulattoes  in  the 
cities  of  the  country  at  large. 

The  percentage  of  mulattoes  is  also  in  general  considerably 
higher  in  the  North  than  in  the  South.  The  states  with  the 
largest  negro  populations  have  the  largest  percentage  of  pure 
negroes,  though  there  are  exceptions  to  this  relation.  South 
Carolina,  Alabama  and  Georgia,  for  example,  have  negro 
populations  of  55.2,  42.5  and  45.1  per  cent.,  respectively.  And 
the  percentages  of  mulattoes  among  the  negroes  of  these  states 
are  16.1,  16.7  and  17.3,  respectively.  In  Illinois,  Pennsylvania 
and  Massachusetts,  the  negroes  are  1.9,  2.5  and  1.1  per  cent,  of 
the  total  populations.  And  in  these  states  the  percentages  of 
mulattoes  are  33.8,  19.2  and  36.7.  States  with  negro  popula- 
tions intermediate  between  the  two  groups  mentioned  are 
Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Maryland,  which  have  in  their  re- 
spective populations  11.4,  21.7  and  17.9  per  cent,  of  negroes. 
And  here  the  percentages  of  mulattoes  are  respectively  25.2, 
25.1  and  18.6.  On  the  whole,  there  are  larger  percentages 
of  mulattoes  among  the  negroes  in  states  with  small  negro 
populations,  and  there  are  larger  percentages  in  the  cities 
than  in  the  country  districts. 

What  these  facts  indicate  it  is  difficult  to  say.  They  may 
mean  that  mulattoes  are  more  attracted  than  are  pure  negroes 


86  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

by  the  reputed  advantages  held  out  to  colored  people  in 
the  North,  and  by  the  reputed  opportunities  of  city  life.  If 
so,  it  would  seem  that  mulattoes  have  greater  capacity  for 
perceiving  opportunity  and  greater  ambition  to  take  advantage 
of  it.  Or  color  distinctions  among  the  negroes  themselves 
may  influence  those  of  lighter  skin  to  seek  to  relieve  the  cir- 
cumpressure  of  the  bulk  of  their  race  by  Northern  and  urban 
migration.  Or  the  non-agricultural  industries  in  which  ne- 
groes are  engaged  in  the  North  and  in  the  cities  may  possibly 
select  mulattoes  in  preference  to  blacks,  either  because  of 
their  lighter  color  or  because  of  their  greater  ability,  or  for 
both  reasons.  Or  it  may  be  that  there  is  greater  race  inter- 
mixture in  the  North  and  in  the  cities  than  in  the  rural  dis- 
tricts and  the  South.  All  four  of  these  factors  may  operate. 
The  census  shows  that  there  has  been  taking  place  a  migra- 
tion of  negroes  from  the  country  to  the  city,  and  from  the 
South  to  the  North — particularly  to  the  cities  of  the  North. 
And  it  is  in  these  centers  of  migration  that  the  proportion  of 
mulattoes  is  highest.  Several  observers,  (see  Stone  ,'08,  p. 
401,  ff.),  have  reported  the  apparent  growth  of  a  class  dis- 
tinction between  mulattoes  and  pure  blacks,  tending  to  sep- 
arate them,  especially  in  the  cities.  The  occupations  in  which 
negroes  are  employed  in  the  cities  and  in  the  North  have 
increased  and  become  more  standardized  in  recent  years,  and 
intelligence  and  light  color  are  both  probably  more  in  demand 
in  such  occupations  than  in  the  more  simple  and  isolated  labor 
of  rural  life.  And  the  life  of  the  so-called  underworld  of  cities, 
and  the  fact  that  inter-racial  marriages  are  permitted  in  the 
North,  would  probably  tend  to  increase  the  percentage  of 
mulattoes  in  these  places.  So  while  the  causes  of  the  distri- 
bution of  mulattoes  cannot  be  definitely  stated,  it  would  seem 
that  those  mentioned  above  may  reasonably  be  included  among 
them. 

It  is  further  worthy  of  note,  that  according  to  the  census 
figures  the  relative  number  of  mulattoes  is  increasing.  The 
years  in  which  they  were  separately  classified  were  1850,  1860, 
1870, 1890  and  1910.  And  the  percentages  of  mulattoes  in  the 
country  at  large  were  as  follows  in  those  years:  11.2,  13.2, 
12.0,  15.2  and  20.9.  But  this  does  not  mean,  as  is  often  sup- 
posed, that  intermixture  of  whites  and  negroes  has  increas- 
ingly taken  place  in  accordance  with  these  percentages.  The 
relative  increase  in  the  number  of  persons  of  mixed  blood 


COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSES  OF  NEGROES.  87 

may  have  been  due  to  marriage  among  colored  people  them- 
themselves,  after  a  certain  degree  of  racial  admixture  had  oc- 
curred, without  an  increase,  or  even  a  continuance,  of  direct 
crossing  between  negroes  and  whites.  For  the  mulattoes  and 
the  pure  negroes  marry  each  other,  and  this  reduces  the 
original  percentage  of  pure  negroes  among  the  total  offspring, 
and  increases  the  percentage  of  persons  of  mixed  blood.  Of 
course,  in  the  long  run,  unless  there  were  a  new  infusion  from 
white  stock,  the  amount  of  white  blood  would  become  very 
small  in  any  individual.  But  within  the  years  covered  by 
the  census  reports  there  would  be  enough  traces  of  the  white 
left  to  cause  the  individuals  possessing  them  to  be  classified  as 
having  some  white  characteristics,  and  the  basis  of  the  census 
classification  is  the  possession  of  any  perceptible  trace  of 
white  blood.  This  consideration  renders  the  increase  of  racial 
intermixture  as  indicated  by  the  census  figures  undoubtedly 
too  high,  even  if  the  accuracy  of  the  figures  be  granted. 

Views  of  Other  Writers 

The  presence  of  the  mulatto  element  among  the  colored 
population  has  been  taken  into  account  by  a  number  of  writers 
who  have  dealt  with  the  negro,  although  it  has  been  neglected 
by  a  number  of  others.  In  Chapter  I  was  quoted  a  statement 
from  Strong  ('13)  to  the  effect  that  she  divided  the  negroes 
tested  by  her  into  three  classes  on  the  basis  of  the  color  of 
their  skin,  and  found  that  those  of  lightest  color  varied  most 
from  the  normal,  both  above  and  below.  Mayo  ('13)  was 
aware  that  the  presence  of  mulattoes  might  have  influenced 
the  school  records  of  the  negroes  in  his  study.  Pyle  ('15) 
suggested  that  the  superior  negroes  in  his  groups  might  have 
had  a  greater  proportion  of  white  blood.  And  Bean  ('06) 
recognized  that  the  brains  which  he  investigated  were  partly 
those  of  mulattoes.  Statements  from  other  writers  may  be 
given  to  indicate  the  attitude  of  those  who  have  considered 
the  matter  from  various  standpoints. 

Boas,  in  concluding  a  discussion  of  the  American  negro 
problem,  writes :  "It  appears ....  that  the  most  important 
practical  questions  relating  to  the  negro  problem  have  refer- 
ence to  the  mulattoes  and  other  mixed  bloods — to  their  physi- 
cal types,  their  mental  and  moral  qualities,  and  their  vitality. 
When  the  bulky  literature  of  this  subject  is  carefully  sifted, 
little  remains  that  will  endure  serious  criticism;  and  I  do 


88  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

not  believe  that  I  claim  too  much  when  I  say  that  the  whole 
work  on  this  subject  remains  to  be  done.  The  development 
of  modern  methods  of  research  makes  it  certain  that  by  care- 
ful inquiry  definite  answers  to  our  problems  may  be  found. 
Is  it  not,  then,  our  plain  duty  to  inform  ourselves,  that,  so  far 
as  that  can  be  done,  deliberate  consideration  of  observations 
may  take  the  place  of  heated  discussion  of  beliefs  in  matters 
that  concern  not  only  uorselves,  but  also  the  welfare  of 
millions  of  negroes?"  (11,  pp.  277-278). 

Stanley  Hall  says:  "The  chief  event  in  the  history  of  the 
Southern  negro  in  the  new  world  is  the  infiltration  of  white 
blood.  But  for  this  the  negro  in  mind  and  body  would  be  so 
distinct  from  us  that  all  our  problems  connected  with  the  race 
would  be  vastly  simplified.  Just  how  far  he  has  lost  his  rare 
racial  homogeneity  here  it  is  impossible  to  tell.  The  extreme 
minimal  estimate  that  I  have  found  is  that  one-tenth  have 
some  white  blood,  and  one  maximal  estimate  is  that  two- 
thirds  are  partly  white.  Page  thinks  that  from  one-ninth 
to  one-sixth  are  mixed.  DuBois  says  that  two  million  negroes 
have  some  white  blood.  Most  estimates  range  somewhere 

between  one-fifth  and  one-half Moreover,  the  grade 

of  pigmentation  is  not  a  sure  index  of  the  degree  of  miscege- 
nation, and  in  the  veins  of  some  thought  purely  African  prob- 
ably flows  at  least  a  little  of  the  best  white  blood  of  the  land. 
....  Thus  all  the  vast  psychophysic  differences  between  the 
two  races  are  bridged,  and  they  possibly  fuse  with  each  other 

by  all  imperceptible  gradations At  any  rate,  men  like 

Fred  Douglas,  Bishop  Payne,  Booker  Washington,  Du  Bois 
Chestnut,  Tanner,  Dunbar,  Thomas  and  a  score  of  others,  arc 
not  typical  negroes."  ('05,  pp.  360-361). 

In  a  discussion  of  the  general  status  of  the  mulatto  as 
compared  with  the  pure  negro,  Jordan  ('13)  contends  that 
the  former  is  considerably  superior  to  the  latter.  The  pure 
negro  is  claimed  to  be  capable  of  only  the  rudiments  of  civiliza- 
tion. His  powers  of  attention  and  reflection  are  poor.  He 
can  draw  general  conclusions  from  particular  cases  only  with 
difficulty,  he  is  imitative  rather  than  creative,  he  lacks  fore- 
sight, he  has  small  power  of  profiting  by  observation,  his 
character  is  mobile,  and  he  is  guided  largely  by  the  instinct 
of  the  moment.  "The  negro  cannot  undergo  mental  develop- 
ment beyond  a  certain  definite  maximum.  The  curious  thing 
is  that  no  attempt  is  made  to  establish  this  opinion  on  a 


COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSES  OF  NEGROES.  89 

scientific  basis  and  to  definitely  determine  the  limit  of  mental 
development  beyond  which  the  law  of  diminishing  returns 
dictates  cessation  of  effort ;  and  furthermore  that  in  flat  con- 
tradiction to  this  common  opinion  education  is  planned  in 
apparent  utter  disregard  of  it."  ('13,  pp.  578-579) .  But  with 
the  mulatto  the  case  is  different.  "Where  negro,  mulatto 
and  white  are  jointly  concerned  the  teachers  are  unequivocal 
in  their  opinion  that  mental  alertness  and  the  development  of 
the  higher  psychical  activities  corresponds  in  degree  quite 
uniformly  with  the  amount  of  'white'  blood  as  judged  by 
color  of  the  skin."  ('13,  p.  577).  It  is  true,  argues  Jordan, 
that  many  mulattoes  are  inferior,  but  this  is  because  they 
come  from  inferior  parents.  The  way  to  uplift  the  negro 
race  is  by  the  proper  selection  and  breeding  of  mulattoes. 

A  view  very  different  from  this  is  held  by  Le  Bon.  He 
writes:  "Doubtless  very  different  races,  the  black  and  the 
white  for  example,  may  fuse,  but  the  half-breeds  that  result 
constitute  a  population  very  inferior  to  those  of  which  it  is 
sprung,  and  utterly  incapable  of  creating  or  even  of  continu- 
ing, a  civilization.  The  influence  of  contrary  heredities  saps 
their  morality  and  character.  When  half-breeds,  the  off- 
spring of  white  men  and  negroes,  have  chanced  to  inherit  a 
superior  civilization,  as  in  Saint  Domingo,  this  civilization  has 
speedily  been  overtaken  by  the  most  lamentable  degenera- 
tion. Cross-breeding  may  be  a  source  of  improvement  when 
it  occurs  between  superior  and  sufficiently  allied  races,  such 
as  the  English  and  the  Germans  in  America,  but  it  always 
constitutes  an  element  of  degeneration  when  the  races,  even 
though  superior,  are  too  different."  ('98,  pp.  52-53).  Le  Bon 
quotes  Agassiz  to  the  effect  that  Brazil  is  undergoing  degen- 
eration on  account  of  the  large  number  of  half-breeds  in  the 
population,  cross-breeding  being  fatal  to  the  best  qualities  of 
whites,  blacks  and  Indians,  the  peoples  concerned.  It  should 
be  said  that  this  view  of  Le  Bon's  is  held  by  only  a  small 
minority  of  those  who  have  discussed  the  question. 

Baker's  opinion  ('08)  concerning  the  relative  capacity  of 
the  mulatto  and  the  pure  negro  does  not  seem  to  be  very 
decided  one  way  or  the  other.  He  points  out  that  a  number 
of  leading  negroes,  as  Washington,  Du  Bois,  Douglass,  Chest- 
nutt,  Braithwaite,  Tanner  and  Terrell  are  mulattoes.  In- 
deed, "Most  of  the  leading  men  of  the  race  to-day  in  every 
line  of  activity  are  mulattoes."  ('08,  p.  173).  But  on  the 


90  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

other  hand,  such  negro  leaders  as  Vernon,  Miller,  Dunbar, 
Price  and  Mason  are  probably  pure-blooded.  He  claims  that 
to  be  a  mulatto  is  to  be  neither  a  negro  nor  a  white,  but  is  to 
have  the  ambitions  and  hopes  of  both  races.  Mulattoes  and 
negroes  keep  together  on  account  of  social  pressure  from 
the  whites.  As  to  the  number  of  mulattoes,  Baker  writes: 
"From  my  own  observation  and  from  talking  and  correspond- 
ing with  many  men  who  have  had  superior  opportunities  for 
investigation,  I  think  it  safe  to  say  that  between  one-fourth 
and  one-third  of  the  Negroes  in  this  country  at  the  present 

time  have  a  visible  mixture  of  white  blood It  is  probable 

that  3,000,000  persons  out  of  the  10,000,000  population  are 
visibly  mulattoes."  ('08,  p.  153).  The  proportion  of  mulattoes 
is  stated  to  be  much  larger  in  the  North  than  in  the  South,  and 
the  census  figures  are  mentioned  as  being  unreliable. 

In  a  discussion  of  the  political  status  of  the  negro,  Stone 
('08)  argues  that  a  distinction  should  be  drawn  between  the 
pure  negro  and  the  mulatto.  "There  can  no  lorger  be  a  ques- 
tion as  to  the  superior  intelligence  of  the  mulatto  over  the 
Negro — of  his  higher  average  potential  capacity."  ('08,  p. 
401).  The  leaders  of  the  colored  race,  says  Stone,  have  been 
mulattoes,  and  this  has  been  true  in  such  places  as  Jamaica, 
Santo  Domingo,  Haiti,  South  Africa  and  Liberia,  as  well  as 
in  the  United  States.  The  exceptional  blacks  of  pure  blood 
who  have  attained  prominence  were  generally  not  descended 
from  true  negroes  at  all.  Their  ancestry  is  to  be  found  in 
those  stocks,  such  as  the  Fulah  and  others  of  high  type,  that 
were  brought  from  Africa  as  slaves  in  small  numbers  along 
with  the  mass  of  true  negroes. 

From  these  abstracts  it  is  evident  that  there  is  very  little 
definitely  known  as  to  the  relative  merits  of  pure  negroes  and 
mulattoes.  Of  opinion,  based  more  or  less  closely  upon  ob- 
servation, there  is  a  great  deal.  But  there  has  been  no  seri- 
ous attempt  made  to  attack  the  problem  from  an  experi- 
mental or  scientific  standpoint.  The  views  of  men  are 
uncertain  as  to  the  relative  abilities  of  whites  and  negroes; 
it  is  to  be  expected  that  they  will  be  much  more  uncertain 
when  they  deal  with  sub-classes  within  the  colored  group. 

The  Classification 


In  the  present  investigation  the  negroes  tested  were  divided 
into  four  classes  on  the  basis  of  racial  purity  as  indicated 


COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSES  OF  NEGROES.  91 

by  color  of  skin,  hair  texture  and  general  facial  and  cranial 
conformation,  the  main  emphasis  being  placed  upon  color. 
The  four  classes  were  pure  negroes,  negroes  three-fourths 
pure,  mulattoes  proper,  and  quadroons.  Of  course  there  were 
probably  included  in  the  classification  some  negroes  who  did 
not  belong,  strictly  speaking,  in  any  of  these  classes.  A  few 
octoroons,  for  example,  may  have  been  present,  or  a  few 
persons  who  were  of  seven-eighths  pure  negro  stock.  Such 
cases  were  placed  in  the  class  which  seemed  to  fit  their  status 
best,  and  it  is  not  thought  that  any  constant  error  resulted 
from  this  procedure. 

It  is  also  probable  that  errors  were  made  in  the  classifica- 
tion. Certain  individuals  may  have  been  placed  in  a  class  too 
near  the  pure  negroes  or  too  near  the  pure  whitest  But  here 
again  the  incorrect  classifications  would  tend  to  balance  each 
other,  and  it  is  improbable  that  a  constant  error  in  any  direc- 
tion resulted.  The  effect  of  the  overlapping  of  the  classes 
would  be  to  lessen  the  differences  found  between  them.*  Con- 
sequently it  follows  that  in  so  far  as  the  classification  was  in- 
accurate, the  real  differences  were  greater  than  those  indicated 
by  the  scores. 

In  setting  forth  the  results  of  the  tests,  the  four  classes 
mentioned  are  adhered  to.  But  in  order  to  make  the  classifi- 
cation still  less  subject  to  error,  and  to  secure  a  larger  number 
of  subjects  in  each  class,  the  pure  and  the  three-fourths  pure 
negroes  are  grouped  together,  and  the  mulattoes  and  the  quad- 
roons are  grouped  together,  and  the  results  are  given  sep- 
arately in  all  cases  for  the  two  resulting  classes  as  well  as 
for  the  original  four.  The  difference  in  amount  of  white 
blood  between  these  two  classes  is  greater  than  that  between 
any  two  classes  of  the  four-class  division,  and  the  difference 
between  the  scores  of  the  combined  pure  and  three-fourths 
negroes  and  the  combined  mulattoes  and  quadroons  should  be 
correspondingly  greater  than  that  between  the  classes  of  the 
original  division.  This  we  shall  find  to  be  the  case.  And  it 

*It  seems  to  the  writer  that  probably  the  greatest  chance  for 
erroneous  classification  occurred  between  the  pure  negroes  and  the  ne- 
groes three-fourths  pure.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  differences  in  color  be- 
tween various  stocks  of  pure  negroes  may  have  caused  some  com- 
paratively light-colored  individuals  of  this  class  to  be  counted  as  three- 
fourths  pure;  and  some  three-fourths  pure  individuals  of  unusually 
dark  native  stock  may  have  been  classed  as  pure-blooded.  This  suppo- 
sition is  borne  out  by  the  fact  that  the  differences  revealed  by  the 
tests  between  the  pure  and  the  three-fourths  pure  negroes  were  less 
than  the  differences  between  the  other  classes. 


92  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

should  be  noted  in  this  connection  that  the  class  composed 
of  mulattoes  and  quadroons  is  very  predominantly  mulatto, 
since  the  quadroons  were  few  in  number.  This  fact  obviously 
makes  the  difference  found  between  mulattoes  and  quadroons 
combined  and  pure  and  three-fourths  negroes  combined  less 
than  it  really  is. 

It  should  be  said  that  the  classification  of  the  negroes  was 
made  by  the  writer,  who  had  had  considerable  experience 
with  negroes,  at  the  time  the  tests  were  administered.  None 
of  the  subjects  was  previously  known  to  him,  and  he  is  aware 
of  no  circumstance  that  could  have  influenced  the  classifica- 
tion in  addition  to  the  basis  previously  adopted.  The  sub- 
jects seemed  to  fit  into  the  various  classes  both  naturally  and 
easily,  and  doubt  as  to  the  correctness  of  a  classification  was 
so  infrequent  as  to  be  negligible. 

Numbers  and  Ages 

The  negroes  tested  in  Fredericksburg  and  Newport  News 
were  so  few  that  the  results  from  those  cities  were  not  used 
in  this  intra-racial  study.  There  was  not  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  each  of  the  four  classes  in  either  city  to  enable  results 
to  be  computed  for  any  year  or  any  grade.  As  in  the  gen- 
eral comparison  between  whites  and  negroes,  results  from 
only  one  subject  were  not  considered. 

The  319  negroes  tested  in  Richmond  fell  into  the  different 
classes  numerically  as  shown  in  Tables  33  and  34,  which  give 
the  numbers  by  age  and  sex  and  by  grades.  The  three  high- 
est and  the  two  lowest  years  are  not  used  in  the  comparisons 
on  account  of  the  small  number  of  pupils  in  them.  It  may 
be  noted  that  the  largest  class  is  composed  of  mulattoes,  the 
smallest  of  quadroons,  and  that  the  classes  of  pure  negroes 
and  three-fourths  pure  negroes  are  of  about  equal  size.  The 
mulattoes  and  quadroons  together  constitute  52  per  cent,  of 
the  total;  the  pure  and  three-fourths  negroes  together  con- 
stitute 48  per  cent,  of  the  total.  In  the  elementary  school 
the  mulattoes  and  quadroons  are  46  per  cent,  of  the  total 
number;  in  the  high  school  the  mulattoes  and  quadroons  are 
59  per  cent,  of  the  total  number.  There  is  thus  a  larger  pro- 
portion of  light-colored  negroes  in  the  high  school  than  in  the 
elementary  school.  And  in  the  grades  tested  as  a  whole 
there  is  a  larger  percentage  of  negroes  of  mixed  blood  than 
there  is  in  the  city  at  large,  as  shown  by  the  census  figures. 


COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSES  OF  NEGROES.  93 

These  facts  as  to  the  relative  numbers  of  pure  and  mixed 
bloods  in  the  school  system  indicate  that  the  schools  select 
colored  persons  of  partly  white  lineage  to  a  greater  extent 
than  they  select  pure  negroes,  and  that  as  the  grades  advance 
the  selection  becomes  more  pronounced.  This  would  imply 
that  mulattoes  in  general  are  of  greater  ability  and  ambition 
than  are  pure  negroes.  And  the  fact  that  there  is  a  larger 
proportion  of  light-colored  negroes  in  the  high  school  than  in 
the  elementary  school  would  partly  explain  the  relatively 
greater  ability  of  high  school  negroes  that  was  found  in  the 
general  comparison  between  white  and  colored  subjects. 
Mixed  bloods,  as  will  be  shown,  are  of  greater  ability,  and 
there  are  proportionately  more  of  them  in  the  upper  grades. 


TABLE  XXXIII. 

NUMBER  OF   COLORED   SUBJECTS — RICHMOND — CLASSIFIED    BY    RACIAL 
PURITY,  AGE  AND  SEX 


Ages 

Boys 

Pure 

Three-Fourths 

Mulattoes 

Quadroons 

Girls 

Pure 

Three-Fourths 

Mulattoes 

Quadroons 

Boys 

Pure  and 

Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons 
Girls 
Pure   and 

Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons 


10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  21  Totals 


36 

25 

41 

5 


1 

4 

8 

7 

4 

4 

4 

2 

2 

3 

2 

3 

5 

4 

2 

3 

1 

1 

1 

8 

7 

4 

7 

8 

2 

3 

1 

1 

.. 

1 

2 

1 

•  • 

•  • 

•  • 

•  • 

1 

4 

5 

10 

8 

2 

7 

1 

1 

10 

9 

14 

6 

7 

2 

4 

"i 

4 

8 

16 

12 

11 

19 

10 

6 

i     i 

3 

.  . 

4 

6 

2 

5 

4 

4 

i    .. 

6     11     12      8      6 


3       3 


88688231 


2  14  14  24  14   9   9   5   1  .. 
7   8  20  18  13  24  14  10   2   1 


38 
55 
90 
29 


61 
46 


93 
119 


TABLE  XXXIV. 

NUMBER  OF    COLORED    SUBJECTS— RICHMOND— CLASSIFIED    BY    RACIAL 
PURITY  AND  GRADES 

5A    5B    6A    6B    7A    7B    1A   2A    2B    3A    4A    Totals 


Grades 


10     10     11 

10     13     10 

20     13     11 

223 


Pure 

Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes 
Quadroons 
Pure   and 

Three-Fourths     20     23     21     10     12 
Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons 


4  12  5  2  3  7 
599543 
9  14  13  11  12  12 
174363 


22     15     14     12 


9     21     14       7       7     10 
7     10     21     17     14     18     15 


74 

80 

131 

34 

154 
165 


94  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

The  ages  of  the  different  classes  of  negroes  in  the  various 
grades  are  given  in  Table  35,  and  the  differences  between  the 
age  of  each  class  and  the  age  of  white  pupils  of  the  same 
grade — the  white  pupils  in  question  being  those  tested  in 
Richmond — are  given  in  Table  36.  This  latter  table  shows 
that  the  pure  negroes  were  .69  of  a  year  older  than  the  white 
pupils;  the  three-fourths  pure  negroes  were  .32  of  a  year 
older;  the  mulattoes  were  .29  of  a  year  older;  and  the  quad- 
roons were  .07  of  a  year  younger.  The  pure  and  three-fourths 
negroes  combined  were  .51  of  a  year  older  than  the  whites; 
the  mulattoes  and  quadroons  combined  were  .23  of  a  year 
older.  These  figures  are  significant.  They  show  that  the 
darker  negroes  were  slower  in  reaching  a  given  grade  than 
were  those  of  lighter  color.  The  differences  are  small,  and 
are  subject  to  variation  from  grade  to  grade.  But  the  aver- 
age differences,  which  are  here  quoted,  are  uniformly  greater 
for  the  darker  negroes,  and  the  probable  errors  are  not  large 
enough  to  invalidate  the  significance  of  this  uniformity. 

TABLE  XXXV. 

AGES  OF  THE  COLORED  SUBJECTS — RICHMOND — CLASSIFIED    BY    RACIAL 

PURITY  AND  GRADES 
Grades  5A     5B    6A     6B     7A     7B     1A     2A    2B     3A    4A 

Pure  Av.  12.7  13.2  12.8  14.2  14.8  14.7  15.4  17.0  16.5  16.0  17.8 

A.D.  .9       .6       .6       .3  .3  .7  .8  .4       .5     1.3       .7 

Three-Fourths  Av.  11.7  13.1  13.0  13.4  13.7  14.4  14.3  16.6  16.6  17.7  17.0 

A.D.  1.0     1.0       .8     1.5  .6  .6  .6  .6     1.1       .9     1.3 

Mulattoes    Av.  12.6  12.4  12.8  13.2  13.8  14.6  15.2  15.8  16.5  16.6  17.6 

A.D.  1.1       .9       .6       .8  1.3  .8  .5  .8     1.0       .5     1.2 

Quadroons    Av.  12.0  12.0  11.6  14.0  . .  . .  14.0  16.0  16.6  17.0  17.6 

A.D.  1.0     1.0       .90 3  1.0      .9      .7      .9 

Pure  and 

Three-Fourths  Av.  12.2  13.1  12.9  13.8  14.1  14.5  14.9  16.7  16.5  17.0  17.6 

A.D.  1.0       .8       .7       .9  .7  .7  .8  .6       .9     1.1       .9 
Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons    Av.  12.5  12.4  12.5  13.4  13.8  14.5  14.8  15.8  16.5  16.7  17.6 

A.D.  1.1       .9       .9       .8  1.3  .9  .7  .9     1.0       .6     1.2 

TABLE  XXXVI. 

AGES — DIFFERENCE  IN  YEARS  BETWEEN  THE  WHITE  AND  EACH  OF  THE 

FOUR  CLASSES  OF  COLORED  SUBJECTS  TESTED — RICHMOND 
(Minus  signs  indicate  that  the  colored  subjects  are  of  greater  age.) 
Grades 

5A  5B  6A  6B  7A  7B  1A  2A  3A  4A  Av.  P.E. 
Pure  Negroes 

_.3  _.7  .6  _l.O  —1.5  —1.1  —1.0  —1.6  .5  —  .8  —.69  .15 
Three-Fourths 

.7  —.6         .4  —  .2  —  .4         .8         .1  —1.2  —1.2          0  —.32       .14 
Mulattoes 

—.2      .1         .6          0  —  .5  —1.0  —  .8  —  .4  —  .1  —  .6  —.29       .10 


COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSES  OF  NEGROES.  95 

5A      5B       6A       6B       7A      7B       1A      2A      3A       4A      Av.    P.E. 
Quadroons 

.4       .5       1.8  —  .8        4  —  .6  —  .5  —  .6       .07       21 

Pure  and  Three-Fourths 

.2  —.6         .5  —  .6  —  .8  —  .9  —  .5  —1.3  —  .5  —  .6  —.51       .09 
Mulattoes  and  Quadroons 

—.1       .1         .9  —  2  —  .5  —  .9  —  .4  —  .4  —  .2  —  .6  —.23       .09 

Standing  in  the  Tests 

The  tests  used  in  this  comparison  are  the  mixed  relations, 
Tests  I  and  II,  and  the  completion.  These  tests  revealed 
marked  differences  between  whites  and  negroes  as  a  whole, 
and  they  are  therefore  well  adapted  to  bring  out  any  differ- 
ences that  may  exist  between  the  various  classes  of  negroes. 
The  maze  and  cancellation  tests  did  not  show  any  considerable 
differences  in  the  general  inter-racial  comparison,  and  they 
are  consequently  not  employed  here. 

In  setting  forth  the  results  of  the  tests  the  same  order  is 
followed  as  in  the  preceding  chapter.  In  the  case  of  each  test, 
first  are  given  the  actual  scores,  with  their  average  devia- 
tions, classified  by  age  and  sex  and  by  grades.  Then  appear 
graphs  based  upon  these  scores.  The  graphs  are  drawn  only 
for  the  two-division  classification — that  of  pure  and  three- 
fourths  negroes  combined  and  mulattoes  and  quadroons  com- 
bined. The  scores  of  the  white  pupils  tested  in  Richmond 
are  included  in  the  graphs  for  the  sake  of  comparison.  Fol- 
lowing the  graphs  are  the  tables  in  which  the  comparisons 
are  made.  In  each  instance  the  score  of  the  colored  subjects 
is  compared  with  that  of  the  corresponding  white  pupils. 
The  actual  differences  between  the  scores  are  given;  the 
percentage  of  the  score  of  the  whites  that  was  obtained  by 
the  negroes  next  appears;  and  lastly  are  shown  the  per- 
centages of  the  two-division  classification  that  reach  or  ex- 
ceed the  average  score  of  the  whites.  The  averages  of  the 
various  ages  and  grades,  with  their  probable  errors,  appear 
in  each  table  of  comparison. 

Tables  37  and  38  give  the  scores  in  the  mixed  relations  test. 
Figures  16-21  present  these  scores  in  graphic  form.  Tables 
39-43  make  the  comparisons.  From  these  latter  tables  the 
following  facts  appear. 


96 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 


TABLE  XXXVII. 


MIXED  RELATIONS  TEST — SCORES  OF    COLORED    SUBJECTS — RICHMOND — 
CLASSIFIED  BY  RACIAL  PURITY,  AGE  AND  SEX 


Ages                      10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

Test  I. 

Boys  —  Pure 

Av. 

65 

12.3 

9.7 

10.5 

19.3 

18.7 

20.0 

16.5 

A.D. 

1.0 

4.1 

3.2 

1.5 

8.3 

5.2 

4.0 

10.5 

Boys  —  Three-Fourths 

Av. 

9.0 

9.0 

17.0 

18.5 

6.5 

21.0 

19.3 

t 

A.D. 

2.6 

1.0 

6.0 

5.5 

2.5 

0. 

10.3 

t 

0  9 

Boys  —  Mulattoes 

Av. 

12.5 

7.4 

12.5 

17.2 

21.0 

32.5 

19.6 

A.D. 

60 

3.5 

4.5 

8.5 

9.5 

2.5 

12.6 

Boys  —  Quadroons 

Av. 

28.0 

A.D. 

0. 

Girls—  Pure 

Av. 

9.6 

10.5 

12.6 

15.1 

17.0 

21.4 

A.D. 

t 

4.0 

6.0 

4.4 

7.5 

5.0 

6.1 

4  . 

t 

Girls—  Three-Fourths 

Av. 

m 

9.8 

10.6 

11.4 

20.8 

23.4 

16.0 

16.5 

t 

A.D. 

4.6 

3.7 

6.1 

7.8 

6.7 

4.0 

6.0 

Girls—  Mulattoes 

Av.         9.5 

12.0 

12.5 

14.6 

15.7 

18.1 

20.1 

29.5 

14.8 

t  . 

A.D.       7.5 

3.0 

6.1 

6.9 

9.9 

9.4 

12 

4.7 

6.5 

Girls  —  Quadroons 

Av. 

9.6 

10.7 

23.0 

20.0 

23.4 

30.7 

25.2 

. 

A.D. 

5.3 

7.2 

8.3 

12.0 

6.4 

4.2 

9.7 

t  f 

Test  II. 

Boys  —  Pure 

Av. 

7.7 

13.0 

12.8 

18.0 

24.0 

26.5 

36.5 

28.5 

A.D. 

?7 

3.5 

8.8 

7.0 

7.0 

10.5 

1.5 

.5 

Boys—  Three-Fourths 

Av. 

11.3 

9.0 

17.3 

18.8 

4.5 

22.0 

33.3 

A.D.        .  . 

7.0 

0. 

7.0 

10.8 

1.5 

7.0 

3.0 

Boys  —  Mulattoes 

Av. 

14.0 

9.8 

15.0 

27.5 

24.5 

39.5 

27.6 

A.D. 

8.2 

3.4 

8.0 

7.1 

10.0 

.5 

8.0 

Boys  —  Quadroons  . 

Av. 

25.5 

A.D. 

13.5 

Girls—  Pure. 

Av. 

t 

9.0 

8.2 

13.7 

19.8 

28.5 

26.8 

A.D. 

m 

3.3 

2.2 

7.5 

8.8 

7.5 

9.7 

f 

t 

Girls  —  Three-Fourths 

Av. 

t 

9.8 

15.2 

11.2 

26.3 

29.7 

22.0 

20.2 

§ 

A.D. 

4.8 

6.6 

7.5 

7.3 

6.7 

4.0 

5.2 

Girls  —  Mulattoes 

Av.       13.0 

14.0 

12.1 

11.6 

20.5 

20.6 

26.4 

35.3 

19.8 

, 

A.D.       5.0 

5.0 

5.3 

7.6 

12.2 

10.0 

6.6 

3.7 

10.8 

,  , 

Girls  —  Quadroons 
Av. 

15.5 

8.6 

24.6 

27.0 

30.8 

37.5 

30.7 

A.D. 

3.5 

4.6 

12.6 

10.0 

5.2 

1.0 

8.2 

Test  I. 

Boys  —  Pure  and  Three-Fourths 

Av. 

10.5 

7.3 

13.6 

12.9 

7.8 

19.7 

19.0 

20.3 

16.5 

A.D. 

3.5 

1.3 

4.2 

6.0 

2.8 

6.7 

7.4 

3.0 

10.5 

Boys  —  Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons 

Av. 

13.5 

12.5 

9.5 

15.6 

17.2 

21.0 

32.5 

19.6 

A.D. 

4.5 

6.0 

4.7 

7.4 

8.5 

9.5 

2.5 

12.6 

> 

Girls  —  Pure  and  Three-Fourths 

COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSES  OF  NEGROES.  97 

Ages                     10       11        12       13  14       15  16        17       18       19 

Av.          ..     17.5      9.7     10.6  11.9    18.0  22.0    20.2    17.2 

A.D.        ..       3.5       4.3       4.4  5.3       8.3  6.2       5.5       5,4 

Girls — Mulattoes  and  Quadroons 

Av.         9.5     11.0     12.5     13.7  18.1     18.4  20.8     29.8     19.0     29.5 

A.D.       7.5       4.2       6.1       7.2  9.9       9.8  6.9       4.7     10.0         .5 

Test  II. 

Boys — Pure  and  Three-Fourths 

Av.           ..     12.0       8.0     14.1  15.3     11.2  23.3     29.8     36.6     32.0 

A.D.        ..       6.0       2.8       4.7  10.0       7.5  7.0      8.2      1.3       4.6 

Boys — Mulattoes  and  Quadroons 

Av.          ..     14.0     14.0     13.2  18.5     28.4  24.5     39.5    27.6 

A.D.        ..     12.0       8.2       7.2  10.8       7.0  10.0         .5      8.0 

Girls — Pure  and  Three-Fourths 

Av.           ..     25.5       9.6     12.7  12.2     22.6  29.4     25.7     19.8 

A.D.        ..         .5       4.5       5.8  7.7       8.0  6.8       8.5       4.8 

Girls — Mulattoes  and  Quadroons 

Av.       13.0     14.5     12.1     11.1  21.9    21.6  27.3    35.9    24.2    28.0 

3.3    11.0      0.                  A.D.      5.0  4.5      5.3  7.3     10.0     10.1      6.6 

TABLE  XXXVIII. 

MIXED  RELATIONS  TEST — SCORES  OP  COLORED  SUBJECTS — RICHMOND — 

CLASSIFIED  BY  RACIAL  PURITY  AND  GRADES 


Grades       5A 

5B 

6A 

6B 

7A 

7B 

1A 

2A 

2B 

3A 

4A 

Test  I. 

Pure 

Av.        7.6 

10.5 

12.4 

12.2 

13.3 

11.7 

18.4 

17.4 

21.0 

28.6 

17.5 

A.D.      2.6 

3.8 

4.2 

3.7 

4.3 

5.2 

7.7 

4.4 

1.0 

3.3 

6.5 

Three-Fourths 

Av.        9.3 

8.6 

13.6 

17.0 

8.7 

13.4 

17.7 

20.0 

22.0 

22.0 

22.3 

A.D.     3.5 

1.6 

5.6 

4.0 

5.5 

6.4 

4.1 

7.1 

7.6 

6.6 

10.3 

Mulattoes 

Av.        9.8 

12.3 

13.1 

12.8 

9.0 

11.6 

23.2 

22.0 

16.4 

30.0 

24.0 

A.D.     3.9 

4.7 

7.6 

6.4 

4.0 

5.5 

6.5 

9.8 

6.0 

3.9 

10.3 

Quadroons 

Av.        4.5 

9.0 

12.3 

13.0 

27.3 

22.2 

13.3 

32.1 

29.6 

A.D.     2.5 

1.0 

7.0 

2.0 

4.6 

8.2 

5.0 

3.1 

4.6 

Test  II. 

Pure 

Av.       8.7 

9.8 

12.5 

15.2 

18.2 

11.5 

22.5 

28.4 

26.0 

35.0 

28.4 

A.D.      4.5 

4.8 

4.5 

4.2 

7.8 

5.0 

10.0 

4.4 

10.0 

1.3 

7.5 

Three-Fourths 

Av.      12.6 

8.9 

12.1 

16.0 

14.4 

10.6 

24.6 

27.2 

29.0 

34.2 

24.3 

A.D.     6.8 

4.5 

6.1 

8.8 

7.5 

6.6 

8.4 

7.5 

6.4 

4.7 

9.6 

Mulattoes 

Av.        9.1 

13.1 

15.7 

14.0 

17.4 

13.4 

28.6 

28.3 

21.8 

35.6 

30.5 

A.D.      4.2 

7.6 

8.1 

8.2 

7.2 

7.1 

6.6 

7.3 

7.1 

2.8 

8.6 

Quadroons 

Av.       4.0 

9.0 

22.5 

8.0 

35.1 

29.7 

23.0 

36.1 

34.6 

A.D.     0. 

3.0 

3.5 

2.6 

2.4 

6.7 

8.0 

1.5 

4.6 

Test  I. 

Pure  and 

Three-Fourths 

Av.        8.4 

9.4 

13.0 

14.2 

10.1 

12.6 

18.1 

19.0 

21.7 

25.3 

19.0 

A.D.     3.0 

2.7 

4.9 

4.0 

5.9 

6.0 

5.8 

5.9 

5.5 

5.6 

8.0 

Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons 

Av.        9.3 

11.8 

13.0 

12.9 

9.0 

13.1 

24.5 

22.0 

15.7 

30.7 

25.1 

A.D.     3.9 

4.0 

7.4 

5.6 

4.0 

6.9 

6.3 

9.4 

5.7 

3.6 

9.4 

Test  II. 

Pure  and 

Three-Fourths 

98  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

Grades       5A  5B  6A  6B  7A  7B  1A  2A  2B  3A  4A 

Av.      10.5  9.3  12.3  15.6  16.0  11.0  23.4  27.6  28.1  34.5  27.2 

A.D.     5.5  4.8  5.2  6.4  8.0  6.2  9.3  6.6  7.5  3.4  8.4 

Mulattoes  and 
Quadroons 

Av.        8.9  11.7  16.7  12.5  17.4  13.7  30.8  28.6  22.0  35.8  31.3 

A.D.      4.1  6.8  8.0  7.0  7.2  6.7  5.7  7.3  7.3  2.5  7.9 

In  Test  I,  in  the  case  of  boys,  classified  by  age,  the  pure  ne- 
groes obtained  58.8  per  cent,  of  the  score  of  the  whites;  the 
three-fourths  pure  negroes  obtained  72.2  per  cent,  of  the 
score  of  the  whites ;  and  the  mulattoes  obtained  78.5  per  cent, 
of  the  white  score.*  When  the  boys  are  grouped  into  two 
classes,  pure  and  three-fourths  combined  and  mulattoes  and 
quadroons  combined,  the  former  class  is  shown  to  have  ob- 
tained 62.0  per  cent,  of  the  score  of  the  whites  while  the  latter 
class  obtained  83.5  per  cent,  of  the  white  score. 

The  girls  in  Test  I,  classified  by  age,  obtained  the  following 
percentages  of  the  white  score:  Pure  negroes,  68.0;  three- 
fourths  pure  negroes,  71.3;  mulattoes,  87.5;  quadroons,  99.0. 
When  the  girls  are  arranged  in  two  classes  the  results  are 
as  follows:  The  pure  and  three-fourths  negroes  combined 
scored  72.0  per  cent,  as  high  as  the  whites;  the  mulattoes 
and  quadroons  combined  scored  89.3  per  cent,  as  high  as  the 
whites. 

The  grade  comparison  for  Test  I  shows  that  the  pure  ne- 
groes, boys  and  girls  together,  scored  73.3  per  cent,  as  high 
as  the  whites ;  the  three-fourths  pure  negroes  scored  74.6  per 
cent,  as  high;  the  mulattoes  scored  81.6  per  cent,  as  high; 
the  quadroons  scored  87.9  per  cent,  as  high  as  the  whites. 
The  two-division  classification  by  grades  shows  that  the  pure 
and  three-fourths  negroes  obtained  72.9  per  cent,  of  the  white 
score,  and  that  the  mulattoes  and  quadroons  obtained  82.8 
per  cent,  of  the  white  score. 

The  percentages  of  negroes  reaching  or  exceeding  the  aver- 
age of  the  whites  were  as  follows  in  Test  I:  Boys — Pure  and 
three-fourths  combined,  17.0;  Mulattoes  and  quadroons  com- 
bined, 38.5.  Girls — Pure  and  three-fourths  combined,  25.5; 

"There  was  not  a  sufficiently  large  number  of  quadroon  boys  to  be 
included  as  a  separate  class  in  the  tables  of  comparison.  There  were 
only  five  such  boys  in  all,  and  only  two  of  them  were  in  any  one  age 
group,  namely,  age  14.  These  two  scored  higher  than  any  of  the  other 
classes  of  negroes,  but  of  course  a  result  from  such  a  small  number  is 
practically  worthless.  The  quadroon  boys  are  included  in  the  groups 
of  combined  mulattoes  and  quadroons,  however,  and  in  the  grade  groups 
of  quadroons,  which  contain  both  boys  and  girls. 


COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSES  OF  NEGROES. 


99 


Mulattoes  and  quadroons  combined,  41.3.  Grades — Pure  and 
three-fourths  combined,  25.4;  Mulattoes  and  quadroons  com- 
bined, 38.4. 


A&E 


Fig.  16.  Mixed  Relations  Test  I — Scores  of  Whites,  Mulattoes  and 
Quadroons  Combined,  and  Pure  and  Three-Fourths  Negroes  Combined — 
Boys — Richmond.  * 

*The  white,  the  shaded  and  the  black  columns  indicate  the  scores  of 
the  whites,  the  mulattoes  and  quadroons  combined,  and  the  pure  and 
three-fourths  negroes  combined,  respectively. 


AGE 


Fig.  17.  Mixed  Relations  Test  I—  Scores  of  Whites,  Mulattoes  and 
Quadroons  Combined,  and  Pure  and  Three-Fourths  Negroes  Combined- 
Girls  —  Richmond 


Fig.  18.  Mixed  Relations  Test  I— Scores  of  Whites,  Mulattoes  and 
Quadroons  Combined,  and  Pure  and  Three-Fourths  Negroes  Combined — 
Grades — Richmond. 


100 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 


ACE 


Fig.  19.  Mixed  Relations  Test  II — Scores  of  Whites,  Mulattoes  and 
Quadroons  Combined,  and  Pure  and  Three-Fourths  Negroes  Combined — 
Boys — Richmond. 


AGE 


Fig.  20.  Mixed  Relations  Test  II — Scores  of  Whites,  Mulattoes  and 
Quadroons  Combined,  and  Pure  and  Three-Fourths  Negroes  Combined — 
Girls — Richmond. 


Fig.  21.  Mixed  Relations  Test  II— Scores  of  Whites,  Mulattoes  and 
Quadroons  Combined,  and  Pure  and  Three-Fourths  Negroes  Combined — 
Grades — Richmond. 

These  figures  show  that  in  Test  I  the  size  of  the  score  made 
by  the  negroes  varies  directly  with  the  amount  of  their  white 
blood.  As  judged  by  the  averages,  this  is  true  without  excep- 


COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSED  OF  1JEGROES.         101 

tion  for  both  boys  and  girls  and  in  both  the  age  and  the  grade 
classifications.  The  size  of  the  probable  errors  and  the  con- 
stancy of  the  results  renders  the  differences  reliable.  In  the 
two-division  classification  the  differences  are  larger  than  in 
the  four-division  classification,  as  was  to  be  expected,  and  the 
results  here  are  especially  reliable  when  the  size  of  the  proba- 
ble errors  is  considered. 

TABLE  XXXIX. 

MIXED  RELATIONS  TEST — DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN  SCORES  OF  THE   WHITE 

AND  EACH  OF  THE  FOUR  CLASSES  OF  COLORED  SUBJECTS,    BY 

AGE  AND  SEX — RICHMOND 

(Minus  signs  indicate  greater  scores  by  the  colored  subjects.) 


Ages                              12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

Av. 

P.E. 

Test  I. 

Boys  —  Pure                10.0 

6.0 

8.3 

9.6 

8.5 

6.9 

8.2 

.4 

Boys  —  Three-Fourths  7.5 

1.3 

—.5 

13.6 

6.8 

6.3 

5.8. 

1.3 

Boys  —  Mulattoes          4.0 

10.9 

5.5 

2.9 

6.8 

—6.9 

3.9 

1.4 

Girls—  Pure                  9.2 

7.5 

10.1 

7.9 

8.0 

—1.6 

6.8 

1.0 

Girls—  Three-Fourths  9.0 

7.4 

11.3 

2.2 

1.6 

3.8 

5.9 

1.2 

Girls—  Mulattoes          6.3 

3.4 

7.0 

4.9 

4.9 

—9.7 

2.8 

1.5 

Girls  —  Quadroons 

7.3 

—.3 

3.0 

1.6 

—10.9 

.1 

1.8 

Test  II. 

Boys  —  Pure                11.8 

8.3 

11.3 

4.0 

9.0 

8.1 

8.7 

.7 

Boys-Three-FourthslO.5 

4.0 

5.3 

17.5 

11.0 

1.3 

8.3 

1.6 

Boys—  Mulattoes          5.5 

11.5 

9.1 

—5.5 

8.5 

—4.9 

4.0 

2.2 

Girls—  Pure                 13.4 

13.3 

11.0 

8.8 

3.2 

1.0 

8.4 

1.5 

Girls-Three-Fourths  12.6 

6.3 

13.5 

2.3 

2.0 

5.8 

7.1 

1.4 

Girls—  Mulattoes        10.3 

9.9 

4.2 

8.0 

5.3 

—7.5 

5.0 

1.6 

Girls  —  Quadroons 

12.9 

.1 

1.6 

.9 

—9.7 

1.2 

1.8 

Test  I. 

Boys 

Pure  and 

Three-Fourths          9.2 

4.7 

5.1 

12.3 

8.1 

6.6 

7.7 

.8 

Mulattoes  and 

! 

Quadroons                 4.0 

8.8 

2.4 

2.9 

6.8 

—6.9 

3.0 

1J2 

Girls 

Pure  and 

Three-Fourths          9J 

7.4 

10.8 

5.0 

3.0 

4 

5.8 

1.2 

Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons                 6.3 

4.3 

4.6 

4.6 

4.2 

—10.0 

2.3 

1.4 

Test  II. 

Boys 

Pure  and 

Three-Fourths        11.5 

7.2 

8.8 

10.8 

9.7 

4.8 

8.8 

.7 

Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons                 5.5 

8.1 

5.6 

—6.4 

8.5 

—4.9 

2.7 

2.0 

Girls 

Pure  and 

Three-Fourths        12.8 

8.8 

12.5 

6.0 

2.3 

2.1 

7.4 

1.4 

Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons               10.3 

10.4 

2.8 

7.0 

4.4 

—8.1 

4.5 

1.7 

102 


THE  -PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 


TABLE  XL. 
MIXED  RELATIONS  TEST — DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN  SCORES  OF  THF  WHITE 

AND   EACH   OF   THE   FOUR   CLASSES   OF   COLORED   SUBJECTS,   BY 

GRADES — RICHMOND 
(Minus  signs  indicate  greater  scores  by  the  colored  subjects.) 


Grades 

Test  I. 

Pure 

Three-Fourths 

Mulattoes 

Quadroons 

Test  II. 

Pure 

Three-Fourths 

Mulattoes 

Quadroons 

Test  I. 

Pure  and 

Three-Fourths 

Mulattoes   and 

Quadroons 

Test  II. 

Pure    and 

Three-Fourths 

Mulattoes   and 

Quadroons 


5A     5B        6A        6B       7A      7B         1A     2A      3A        4A    Av.  P.E. 


5.5  3.4 
3.8  5.3 
3.3  1.6 

8.6  4.9 

6.1  8.2 

2.2  9.1 

5.7  5.9 
10.8  9.0 


4.7  4.5 

3.8  2.1 

4.3  8.7 

5.9  6.3 


4.4 
3.2 
3.7 
4.5 


4.6  5.1 

—  .2  9.7 

4.0  9.4 
3.8 


7.3  7.4  3.6 

7.7  6.6  7.4 

4.1  8.6  4.4 

-2.7  14.6 


13.2 
11.5 
13.3 


17.9 
18.8 
16.0 


7.1  10.6  —5.5 
7.8  8.0  1.1 
2.3  6.0 


5.8  5.4 
1.0  5.1 
3.6 


3.8         2.6     8.3     12.3 
3.8         3.9     9.4     11.8 


—6.9  —  .7 

—1.8    5.8    —9.0  —6.3  1.3 

6.5     5.2     —3.2  1.8  6.1 

4.4     6.4     —2.4  5.9  6.6 

.4     5.3     —3.8  —  .3  4.6 

—6.1     3.9     —4.3  —4.4  2.6 


7:4     9.0     —2.2         4.3     5.5 
1.0     6.0     —7.6     —1.8     3.2 


7.5         7.0     5.8     18.4         5.6     6.0     —2.7         3.0     6.4 
3.1       10.1     4.4     15.7     —1.8     5.0     —4.0     —1.1     4.4 


TABLE  XLI. 

MIXED  RELATIONS  TEST— PERCENTAGE  OF  THE    SCORE  OF    THE  WHITE 

OBTAINED  BY  EACH  OF  THE  FOUR  CLASSES  OF  COLORED  SUBJECTS, 

BY  AGE  AND  SEX — RICHMOND 


Ages 
Test  I. 
Boys — Pure 


12 
37 


13 


14 


Boys— Three-Fourths      53 
Boys — Mulattoes  75 

Girls — Pure  52 

Girls — Three-Fourths  53 

Girls— Mulattoes  67 
Girls — Quadroons 
Test  II. 

Boys — Pure  38 

Boys— Three-Fourths  45 

Boys— Mulattoes  71 

Girls— Pure  39 

Girls— Three-Fourths      43 

Girls — Mulattoes  53 

Girls — Quadroons 

Test  I. 

Boys — Pure  and 

Three-Fourths  42 

Mulattoes   and 

Quadroons  75 

Girls — Pure  and 

Three-Fourths  52 

Mulattoes  and 
Quadroons  67 


67  54 
93  103 
39  69 


58 
59 
81 
59 

60 
81 
45 

37 
70 
53 
39 


56 

51 

70 

101 

53 

78 
62 

56 

46 

83 

100 


74  72 

51  87 

59  53 

76  80 


15 

52 
32 
85 

66 
90 
79 
87 

82 

20 

125 

70 
92 
72 
94 


38 
85 
78 
80 


16 

70 
76 


73 
67 

74 

90 
94 
83 
97 


71 
76 
88 


17 

73 

76 


76  127 

68  108 

94  81 

80  148 

94  154 


77 

96 

114 

96 

79 

127 

135 


75 
127 
102 


Av.  P.E. 

58.8  3.8 

72.2  7.0 

78.5  6.3 


83       150 


68.0 
71.3 

87.5 
99.0 

63.8 
64.5 
81.8 

64.7 
70.7 

78.5 
93.0 


62.0 
83.5 
72.0 
89.3 


4.5 
5.9 
7.0 
8.7 

4.5 
7.3 

8.7 

7.3 
6.3 
6.6 
8.4 


5.2 
5.6 
5.9 
7.0 


COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSES  OF  NEGROES.         103 


Ages 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

Av. 

P.E. 

Test  II. 

Boys  —  Pure  and 

Three-Fourths 

39 

66 

63 

51 

71 

86 

62.7 

4.2 

Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons 

71 

61 

77 

129 

74 

114 

87.7 

8.0 

Girls  —  Pure  and 

Three-Fourths 

42 

58 

50 

79 

93 

92 

69.0 

6.6 

Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons 

53 

50 

89 

76 

86 

129 

80.5 

7.3 

TABLE  XLII. 

MIXED   RELATIONS   TEST — PERCENTAGE  OP  THE   SCORE  OP  THE  WHITE 

OBTAINED  BY  EACH  OP  THE  FOUR  CLASSES  OP  COLORED 

SUBJECTS,  BY  GRADES — RICHMOND 


Grades 

5A 

5B 

6A 

6B 

7A 

7B 

1A 

2A 

3A 

4A 

Av.  P.E. 

Test  I. 

Pure 

58 

76 

74 

73 

72 

47 

72 

62 

124 

75 

73.3    2.8 

Three-Fourths 

71 

62 

81 

101 

46 

54 

69 

71 

95 

96 

74.6     3.9 

Mulattoes 

75 

89 

78 

76 

48 

47 

91 

79 

130 

103 

81.6     4.4 

Quadroons 

34 

65 

74 

78 

107 

79 

139 

127 

87.9     8.1 

Test  II. 

Pure 

59 

54 

63 

68 

84 

38 

78 

85 

110 

94 

73.3    4.4 

Three-Fourths 

85 

49 

61 

71 

66 

35 

85 

81 

107 

80 

72.0    4.2 

Mulattoes 

62 

67 

79 

63 

80 

45 

99 

84 

112 

101 

79.2    4.2 

Quadroons 

28 

50 

113 

37 

121 

89 

113 

115 

83.2  10.2 

Test  I. 

Pare  and 

Three-Fourths 

64 

68 

78 

85 

54 

51 

70 

68 

110 

81 

72.9     3.1 

Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons 

71 

85 

78 

77 

48 

53 

96 

79 

133 

108 

82.8    4.7 

Test  II. 

Pure  and 

Three-Fourths 

71 

52 

62 

70 

74 

37 

81 

82 

108 

90 

72.7     3.6 

Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons 

61 

65 

84 

56 

80 

46 

106 

85 

112 

104 

79.9     4.7 

TABLE  XLIII. 

MIXED  RELATIONS  TEST — PERCENTAGE  OP  EACH    OP  Two    CLASSES  OP 

COLORED  SUBJECTS  REACHING  OR  EXCEEDING  THE  AVERAGE  OF  THE 

WHITE,  BY  AGE  AND  SEX  AND  BY  GRADES— RICHMOND 


Ages 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17     .. 

Av. 

P.E. 

Test  I. 

Boys  —  Pure   and 

Three-Fourths 

0 

27 

36 

0 

25 

14     .. 

17.0 

4.2 

Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons 

25 

12 

40 

29 

25 

100     .. 

38.5 

7.3 

Girls  —  Pure  and 

Three-Fourths 

8 

23 

8 

25 

33 

56     .. 

25.5 

4.2 

Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons 

17 

28 

39 

38 

33 

93     .. 

41.3 

5.9 

Test  II. 

Boys  —  Pure  and 

Three-Fourths 

0 

18 

25 

12 

17 

43     .. 

19.2 

3.4 

Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons 

25 

12 

33 

86 

25 

100     .. 

46.8 

10.1 

Girls  —  Pure  and 

Three-Fourths 

8 

7 

12 

36 

56 

44     .. 

27.2 

6.3 

Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons 

12 

21 

56 

38 

37 

93     .. 

42.8 

7.3 

104  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

Grades  5A    5B    6A    6B    7A    7B    1A   2A    3A    4A 

Test  I. 
Pure  and 

Three-Fourths  15  14  38  29  20  0  17  14  67  40  25.4  3.6 
Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons  27    31     36    18      0    20    50    41    94    67    38.4    5.2 

Test  II. 
Pure  and 

Three-Fourths  26  19  19  20  25  0  48  21  86  40  30.4  4.2 
Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons  10    20    31     17    43      0     76    29    89    60    37.5     6.0 

We  may  conveniently  average  the  percentages  obtained  by 
the  boys,  girls  and  grades  in  each  class.  When  this  is  done 
the  scores  for  the  four  classes  of  negroes,  in  terms  of  per- 
centages of  the  score  of  whites,  are  as  follows :  Pure  negroes, 
66.7 ;  negroes  three-fourths  pure,  72.7 ;  mulattoes,  82.5 ;  quad- 
roons, 93.4.  The  scores  of  the  two-division  classification,  in 
the  same  terms,  are:  Pure  and  three-fourths  negroes,  69.0; 
mulattoes  and  quadroons,  85.2.  Averaging  the  percentages 
of  boys,  girls  and  grades  that  reached  or  exceeded  the  a\  erage 
score  of  whites,  we  find  that  22.6  per  cent,  of  the  combined 
pure  and  three-fourths  negroes,  and  39.4  per  cent,  of  the  com- 
bined mulattoes  and  quadroons  reached  the  white  average. 

In  Test  II  the  same  situation  occurs.  The  percentages  of 
the  score  of  the  whites  obtained  by  the  pure,  the  three-fourths 
pure  and  the  mulatto  boys  were  63.8,  64.5  and  81.8,  respec- 
tively. For  the  girls,  the  percentages  obtained  by  the  pure 
negroes,  the  negroes  three-fourths  pure,  the  mulattoes  and 
the  quadroons  were,  respectively,  64.7,  70.7,  78.5  and  93.0. 
For  the  grades,  the  percentages,  in  the  same  order,  were  73.3, 
72.0,  79.2  and  83.2.* 

The  combined  pure  and  three-fourths  pure  negroes  and  the 
combined  mulattoes  and  quadroons  scored,  in  Test  II,  the  fol- 
lowing respective  percentages  of  the  score  of  the  whites: 
Boys— 62.7  and  87.7 ;  Girls — 69.0  and  80.5 ;  Grades— 72.7  and 
79.9. 

*It  should  be  noted  that  in  the  comparison  by  grades  in  Test  II  the 
pure  negroes  scored  1.3  per  cent,  higher  than  those  three-fourths  pure. 
In  the  grade  comparison  of  the  completion  test  the  pure  negroes  also 
scored  higher,  by  2.0  per  cent.,  than  the  three-fourths  negroes.  These 
are  the  only  instances  in  which  subjects  with  a  greater  amount  of  white 
blood  were  inferior  to  those  with  a  lesser  amount.  As  was  previously 
pointed  out,  comparisons  by  grades  are  not  as  likely  to  reveal  marked 
or  reliable  differences  as  are  comparisons  by  ages;  and  as  was  also 
pointed  out,  the  classes  of  pure  -and  three-fourths  pure  negroes  may 
not  have  been  as  well  separated  as  the  other  classes. 


COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSES  OF  NEGROES.         105 

The  percentages  of  negroes  reaching  or  exceeding  the  aver- 
age of  the  whites  in  Test  II  were  as  follows :  Boys — Pure  and 
three-fourths,  19.2;  Mulattoes  and  quadroons,  46.8.  Girls — 
Pure  and  three-fourths,  27.2 ;  Mulattoes  and  quadroons,  42.8. 
Grades — Pure  and  three-fourths,  30.4;  Mulattoes  and  quad- 
roons, 37.5. 

If  we  average  for  Test  II  the  percentages  obtained  by  the 
boys,  girls  and  grades  in  each  class,  we  find  that  the  pure 
negroes  obtained  67.3  per  cnt.  of  the  score  of  the  whites; 
that  the  three-fourths  pure  negroes  obtained  69.1  per  cent, 
of  the  score  of  the  whites ;  that  the  mulattoes  obtained  79.8 
per  cent,  of  the  white  score ;  and  that  the  quadroons  obtained 
88.1  per  cent,  of  the  white  score.  The  pure  and  three-fourths 
negroes,  boys,  girls  and  grades,  scored  68.1  per  cent,  as  high 
as  the  whites;  the  mulattoes  and  quadroons,  boys,  girls  and 
grades,  scored  82.7  per  cent,  as  high  as  the  whites.  Aver- 
aging the  percentages  of  boys,  girls  and  grades  that  reached 
or  exceeded  the  average  white  score,  we  find  that  25.6  per 
cent,  of  the  pure  and  three-fourths  pure  negroes  reached  the 
white  average;  and  that  the  white  average  was  reached  by 
42.4  per  cent,  of  the  mulattoes  and  quadroons. 

The  results  of  the  completion  test  appear  in  Tables  44  and 
45  and  in  Figures  22-24.  The  comparisons  are  made  in  Ta- 
bles 46-50.  These  latter  tables  show  the  following  results: 

In  the  case  of  boys,  the  pure  negroes  obtained  65.3  per 
cent,  of  the  score  of  the  whites;  the  three-fourths  pure  ne- 
groes obtained  76.2  per  cent. ;  and  the  mulattoes  obtained  79.2 
per  cent.  For  girls,  the  percentages  for  the  four  classes  of 
negroes,  pure,  three-fourths  pure,  mulattoes  and  quadroons, 
were,  respectively,  74.3,  77.7,  81.8  and  95.8.  For  grades,  the 
percentages  were :  Pure  negroes,  81.4 ;  three-fourths  pure,  79.4 ; 
mulattoes,  82.9 ;  quadroons,  92.2.  When  the  pure  and  three- 
fourths  pure  negroes  and  the  mulattoes  and  quadroons  are 
grouped  together,  it  appears  that  the  pure  and  three-fourths 
pure  boys  scored  68.7  per  cent,  as  high  as  the  whites,  and 
that  the  mulatto  and  quadroon  boys  scored  82.0  per  cent,  as 
high  as  the  whites.  The  girls,  pure  and  three-fourths  pure, 
obtained  77.3  per  cent,  of  the  white  score ;  and  the  girls,  mu- 
lattoes and  quadroons,  obtained  83.5  per  cent,  of  the  white 
score.  In  the  case  of  the  grades,  the  pure  and  three-fourths 
pure  negroes  scored  80.2  per  cent,  as  high  as  the  whites,  and 
the  mulattoes  and  quadroons  scored  83.4  per  cent,  as  high. 


106 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 


TABLE  XLIV. 

COMPLETION  TEST — SCORES  OF  COLORED  SUBJECTS — RICHMOND — CLASSI- 
FIED BY  RACIAL  PURITY,  AGE  AND  SEX 


Ages 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

Boys 

Pure 

Av. 

12.5 

12.7 

15.5 

12.0 

19.2 

20.0 

34.0 

31.5 

A.D. 

1.0 

3.2 

5.7 

3.0 

2.2 

5.0 

0. 

3.5 

Three-Fourths 

Av. 

8.6 

15.0 

17.3 

14.7 

10.2 

16.0 

36.3 

.  . 

f  . 

A.D. 

f 

2.6 

5.0 

3.0 

6.7 

3.7 

6.0 

3.6 

.  . 

.  . 

Mulattoes 

Av. 

13.2 

11.4 

15.5 

20.7 

23.6 

32.0 

29.0 

A.D. 

2.5 

5.5 

6.5 

13.2 

11.3 

1.0 

8.6 

f 

Quadroons 

Av. 

19.5 

A.D. 

5.5 

Girls 

Pure 

Av. 

f 

, 

12.7 

13.8 

16.4 

19.2 

23.0 

27.0 

.  . 

.  . 

A.D. 

3.2 

4.4 

3.5 

4.5 

2.0 

9.4 

Three-Fourths 

Av. 

13.5 

15.4 

15.0 

22.6 

27.1 

22.5 

23.5 

m 

A.D. 

1.3 

2.8 

4.7 

3.3 

4.1 

2.5 

4.5 

f 

Mulattoes 

Av. 

12.0 

13.7 

15.1 

14.3 

21.0 

21.1 

22.7 

29.1 

22.5 

f  f 

A.D. 

5.0 

3.2 

4.8 

4.5 

8.5 

5.4 

5.6 

6.1 

2.1 

.  . 

Quadroons 

Av. 

f  t 

18.6 

.  . 

13.7 

21.0 

35.5 

24.6 

30.5 

27.7 

,  . 

A.D. 

1.3 

2.2 

7.0 

2.5 

4.3 

1.0 

3.2 

f 

Boys  —  Pure  and 

Three-Fourths 

Av. 

8.7 

13.3 

14.0 

15.2 

11.1 

18.1 

27.0 

33.6 

30.6 

A.D. 

f  t 

2.2 

2.3 

3.4 

6.0 

3.3 

3.5 

8.8 

.6 

2.6 

Mulattoes    and 

Quadroons 

Av. 

.  . 

9.0 

13.2 

13.1 

16.8 

21.2 

23.6 

32.0 

29.0 

.  . 

A.D. 

1.0 

2.5 

6.6 

6.1 

12.2 

11.3 

1.0 

8.6 

1  t 

Girls  —  Pure  and 

Three-Fourths 

Av. 

t 

20.5 

13.2 

14.8 

15.5 

20.7 

26.2 

26.0 

22.6 

f  f 

A.D. 

3.5 

1.8 

3.4 

4.2 

4.1 

3.7 

8.4 

4.2 

Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons 

Av. 

12.0 

15.8 

15.1 

14.2 

21.0 

23.3 

23.1 

29.5 

24.6 

29.0 

A.D. 

5.0 

3.1 

4.8 

3.9 

8.0 

6.5 

5.5 

4.7 

3.6 

0. 

TABLE  XLV. 

COMPLETION  TEST— SCORES  OF  COLORED  SUBJECTS— RICHMOND— CLASSI- 
FIED BY  RACIAL  PURITY  AND  GRADES 


Grades 

Pure  Av. 

A.D. 
Three-Fourths    Av. 

A.D. 
Mulattoes  Av. 

A.D. 
Av. 

A.D. 
Pure  and 
Three-Fourths    Av. 

A.D. 

Mulattoes  and 
Quadroons  Av. 

A.D. 


5A     5B    6A     6B     7A    7B     1A    2A    2B     3A     4A 


Quadroons 


10.6  14.0 

2.4  1.4 
11.9  13.4 

5.5  3.0 
10.5  12.0 

3.6  2.7 
16.0  16.5 

1.0  2.5 


14.2  19.5 
3.7  2.0 

13.3  13.5 
3.7  2.5 

14.9  18.2 

4.9  4.0 

15.3  11.6 

3.6  1.3 


17.8  17.2  17.8 

5.2  3.7  4.3 

14.8  16.0  21.5 

4.2  5.2  5.6 

16.2  17.2  23.2 

3.7  4.0  8.7 

..  ..  26.2 

2.2 


23.8  29.0 

4.4  4.0 
27.5  25.8 

5.8  5.2 
28.0  21.0 

6.8  4.3 
28.5  24.6 

7.0     2.6 


29.3  26.8 

7.6  9.7 
28.7  27.6 

3.7  2.0 
27.2  31.5 

5.7  5.6 

30.0  29.3 

2.0  .3 


11.2  13.6  13.8  16.5  16.0  16.5  19.4  26.2  26.7  29.0  27.1 

4.1  2.4  3.6  3.2  4.7  4.3     4.7     5.5  5.0  5.1  7.1 

11.0  12.6  15.0  16.5  16.2  16.5  24.2  28.1  21.7  28.1  31.0 

3.7  3.0  4.4  4.5  3.7  4.3     6.7     6.8  4.2  4.5  4.8 


COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSES  OF  NEGROES. 


107 


The  percentages  of  negroes  reaching  or  exceeding  the  aver- 
age score  of  the  whites  were  as  follows:  Boys — Pure  and 
three-fourths  pure,  19.0;  Mulattoes  and  quadroons,  44.8. 
Girls — Pure  and  three-fourths  pure,  23.2;  Mulattoes  and 
quadroons,  31.5.  Grades — Pure  and  three-fourths  pure,  25.9; 
Mulattoes  and  quadroons,  27.9. 


M-Q  P-T  I W  M-Q  P-T I W  M-Q  P-T  I W  VK?  P-T 
I?  15  /6  11 


AGE 


Fig.  22.  Completion  Test — Scores  of  Whites,  Mulattoes  and  Quad- 
roons Combined,  and  Pure  and  Three-Fourths  Negroes  Combined — Boys 
— Richmond. 


ME         12        I        13 

Fig.  23.  Completion  Test — Scores  of  Whites,  Mulattoes  and  Quad- 
roons Combined,  and  Pure  and  Three-Fourths  Negroes  Combined — 
Girls — Richmond. 


Fig.  24.  Completion  Test— Scores  of  Whites,  Mulattoes  and  Quad- 
roons Combined,  and  Pure  and  Three-Fourths  Negroes  Combined- 
Grades — Richmond. 


108        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

If  we  average  the  percentages  for  boys,  girls  and  grades, 
we  find  that  the  pure  negroes  scored  73.7  per  cent,  as  high  as 
the  whites,  the  three-fourths  pure  negroes  scored  77.8  per 
cent,  as  high,  the  mulattoes  scored  81.3  per  cent,  as  high,  and 
the  quadroons  scored  94.0  per  cent,  as  high  as  the  whites. 
The  pure  and  three-fourths  pure  negroes,  combined,  obtained 
75.4  per  cent,  of  the  white  score;  the  mulattoes  and  quad- 
roons, combined,  obtained  83.0  per  cent,  of  the  white  score. 
In  terms  of  the  percentage  of  negroes  reaching  or  exceeding 
the  average  of  the  whites,  the  results  for  boys,  girls  and 
grades  are:  Pure  and  three-fourths  pure  negroes,  22.7  per 
cent.;  Mulattoes  and  quadroons,  34.7  per  cent. 

TABLE  XLVI. 

COMPLETION  TEST — DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN  SCORES  OF  THE   WHITE  AND 
EACH  OF  THE  FOUR  CLASSES  OF  COLORED  SUBJECTS,  BY  AGE  AND 

SEX — RICHMOND 
(Minus  signs  indicate  greater  scores  by  the  colored  subjects.) 


Ages 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

Av. 

P.E. 

Boys 

Pure 

6.2 

6.0 

5.7 

11.4 

11.5 

10.7 

8.6 

.9 

Three-Fourths 

3.7 

1.4 

6.5 

13.2 

14.7 

—5.6 

5.6 

2.0 

Mulattoes 

5.5 

7.3 

5.7 

2.7 

7.1 

—1.3 

4.5 

.9 

Girls 

Pure 

8.2 

3.2 

8.9 

8.5 

5.9 

3.0 

6.3 

.8 

Three-Fourths 

7.4 

1.6 

10.3 

5.1 

1.8 

7.5 

5.6 

1.0 

Mulattoes 

5.8 

2.7 

4.3 

6.6 

6.2 

.9 

4.4 

.6 

Quadroons 

3.3 

4.3 

—7.8 

4.3 

—.5 

.7 

1.5 

Boys 

Pure  and 

Three-Fourths 

5.4 

4.7 

6.0 

12.3 

12.6 

3.7 

7.4 

1.2 

Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons 

5.5 

5.6 

4.4 

2.2 

7.1 

—1.3 

3.9 

.8 

Girls 

Pure  and 

Three-Fourths 

7.7 

2.2 

9.8 

7.0 

2.7 

4.0 

5.6 

.9 

Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons 

5.8 

2.8 

4.3 

4.4 

6.8 

.5 

3.9 

.5 

TABLE  XLVII. 

COMPLETION  TEST — DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN  SCORES  OF    THE  WHITE  AND 

EACH  OF  THE    FOUR  CLASSES  OF  COLORED  SUBJECTS,  BY  GRADES — 

RICHMOND 

(Minus  signs  indicate  greater  scores  by  the  colored  subjects.) 

Grades                         5A       5B    6A    6B    7A    7B    1A    2A    3A  4A  Av.P.E. 

Pure  2.7  1.1  3.4  3.0  1.6  8.4  9.2  6.7  1.9  7.7  4.6  .7 

Three-Fourths  1.4  1.7  4.8  9.0  4.6  9.6  5.5  3.0  2.5  6.9  4.8  .6 

Mulattoes  2.8  3.1  2.7  4.3  3.2  8.4  3.8  2.5  4.0  3.0  3.8  .3 

Quadroons  —2.7  —1.4  2.3 10.9 8  2.0  1.2  5.2  2.3  .9 

Pure  and 

Three-Fourths  2.1  1.5  3.8  6.0  3.4  9.1  7.6  4.3  2.2  7.4  4.7  .6 
Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons                2.3      2.5    2.6    6.0    3.2   9.1    2.8    2.4    3.1  3.5    3.7      .4 


COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSES  OF  NEGROES. 


109 


TABLE  XLVIII. 

COMPLETION  TEST — PERCENTAGE  OF  THE  SCORE  OF  THE  WHITE  OBTAINED 

BY  EACH  OF  THE  FOUR  CLASSES  OF  COLORED  SUBJECTS,  BY  AGE  AND 

SEX— RICHMOND 


Ages                                  12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

Av. 

P.E. 

Boys 

Pure                                    73 

68 

73 

50 

63 

65 

65.3 

2.1 

Three-Fourths                   81 

93 

69 

43 

53 

118 

76.2 

7.3 

Mulattoes                           71 

62 

73 

88 

77 

104 

79.2 

3.8 

Girls 

Pure                                    61 

81 

64 

70 

80 

90 

74.3 

3.2 

Three-Fourths                  65 

91 

59 

82 

94 

75 

77.7 

3.8 

Mulattoes                           72 

84 

83 

76 

79 

97 

81.8 

2.1 

Quadroons 

81 

83 

128 

85 

102 

95.8 

5.7 

Boys 

Pure  and  Three-Fourths  72 

75 

71 

47 

59 

88 

68.7 

3.5 

Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons                    71 

71 

79 

90 

77 

104 

82.0 

3.5 

Girls 

Pure  and  Three-Fourths  63 

87 

61 

75 

91 

87 

77.3 

3.8 

Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons                    72 

84 

83 

84 

80 

98 

83.5 

1.8 

TABLE  XLIX. 

COMPLETION  TEST— PERCENTAGE  OF  THE  SCORE  OF  THE  WHITE  OBTAINED 

BY  EACH  OF  THE  FOUR  CLASSES  OF  COLORED  SUBJECTS,  BY 

GRADES — RICHMOND 


Grades 

Pure 

Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes 
Quadroons 
Pure  and 

Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons 


5A    5B  6A  6B  7A  7B  1A  2A  3A  4A  Av.  P.E. 

79  93  81  86  92  68  66  78  94  77  81.4  2.0 

89  89  76  59  76  63  80  90  92  80  79.4  2.3 

78  79  85  80  83  68  86  92  87  91  82.9  1.3 

121  109  87  50  ....  97  93  96  85  92.2  4.2 

84  90  79  73  82  65  72  86  93  78  80.2  1.7 

82  83  86  73  83  65  90  92  90  90  83.4  1.6 


TABLE  L. 

COMPLETION  TEST — PERCENTAGE  OF  EACH  OF  Two  CLASSES  OF  COLORED 

SUBJECTS  REACHING  OR  EXCEEDING  THE  AVERAGE  OF  THE  WHITE, 

BY  AGE  AND  SEX  AND  BY  GRADES— RICHMOND 


Ages 

Boys — Pure  and 

Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons 
Girls — Pure  and 

Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons 
Grades 
Pure  and 

Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes  and 

Quadroons 


12  13  14  15  16     17 Av.  P.E. 

17  18  36  0  0    43 19.0  4.9 

12  37  33  50  37  100 44.8  7.0 

0  57  9  7  22     44 23.2  6.3 

25  30  28  31  25     50 31.5  2.0 

5A  5B  6A  6B  7A    7B  1A    2A    3A    4A 


25    39    14     12    33      0 
41     27     29     17     29       0 


10     29     57     40     25.9       3.6 
43     29     44     20     27.9       2.4 


110  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

It  is  evident  that  the  results  from  the  completion  test  show 
the  same  general  standing  for  the  four  classes  of  negroes 
that  was  brought  out  by  the  mixed  relations  test:  the  sub- 
jects with  the  greater  amount  of  white  blood  were  superior. 
And  the  size  of  the  probable  errors,  particularly  in  the  case 
of  the  two-division  classification,  renders  the  results  reliable. 

The  standing  of  the  various  classes  of  negroes  in  the  mixed 
relations  tests,  I  and  II,  and  in  the  completion  test  may  be 
averaged.  When  this  is  done  the  figures  show  that  the  pure 
negroes  scored  69.2  per  cent,  as  high  as  whites;  that  the 
three-fourths  pure  negroes  scored  73.2  per  cent,  as  high  as 
whites;  that  the  mulattoes  scored  81.2  per  cent,  as  high  as 
whites;  and  that  the  quadroons  obtained  91.8  per  cent, 
of  the  white  score.  The  pure  and  three-fourths  pure  negroes, 
combined,  obtained  70.8  per  cent,  of  the  score  of  the  white 
subjects;  the  mulattoes  and  quadroons,  combined,  obtained 
83.6  per  cent,  of  the  score  of  the  whites. 

This  suggests  that  it  is  sometimes  questioned  as  to  how  far 
external  appearances  are  indicative  of  racial  purity.  It  is 
held  that  a  certain  proportion  of  the  offspring  of  mixed  races 
will  not  show  the  blood  characteristics  which  their  heredity 
would  seem  to  warrant.  This  may  be  true,  and  the  Mendelian 
laws  of  inheritance  may  furnish  a  basis  for  such  variation. 
But  in  the  main,  children  conform  closely  to  the  character- 
istics of  their  parents  in  all  respects,  and  such  variations  as 
occur  will  offset  each  other  in  any  considerable  number  of 
persons,  and  leave  the  group  type  predominant.  Certainly 
the  results  here  obtained  indicate  that  the  correlation  between 
skin  color  and  racial  purity  is  high. 

There  was  apparently  nothing  except  native  racial  ability 
that  could  bring  about  the  results  found  herein  for  the  differ 
ent  classes  of  negroes.  It  is  possible,  indeed,  that  the  lighter 
negroes  were  of  a  better  social  class  than  the  darker.  But  if 
this  was  true,  it  must  be  that  the  mixed  bloods  attained  to  a 
better  social  standing  because  of  their  greater  capacity.  For 
among  negroes  in  general  there  are  no  considerable  social  dis- 
tinctions based  on  color.  A  colored  person  is  a  colored  person, 
whether  he  be  mulatto  or  negro,  and  all  mingle  together  as 
one  race.  Pyle,  in  a  quotation  previously  given,  reports  that 
of  the  negroes  tested  by  him,  those  of  better  social  class  made 
higher  scores.  And  it  would  not  be  surprising  if  it  were 
found  that  mulattoes  constituted  the  bulk  of  the  superior 


COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSES  OF  NEGROES.         Ill 

social  class,  and  only  a  minority  of  the  inferior  class.  It 
would  be  surprising,  in  view  of  the  results  found  here,  if  it 
were  otherwise.  But  any  such  distribution  should  be  ascribed 
to  the  greater  inherent  capacity  of  negroes  of  lighter  skin. 

No  social  or  material  gulf,  such  as  that  which  separates  the 
white  and  colored  races  in  this  country,  is  to  be  found  among 
the  negroes  themselves.  Such  distinctions  as  there  are,  and 
however  based,  are  very  minor  as  compared  with  the  great 
inter-racial  distinction.  And  to  a  marked  degree  the  general 
environment  of  colored  children  is  the  same  for  all.  With  no 
great  variations,  they  all  attend  the  same  schools,  live  in  the 
same  neighborhoods,  grow  up  in  the  same  home  surroundings, 
share  the  same  cultural  advantages,  meet  the  same  opportuni- 
ties, undergo  the  same  experiences.  They  live  almost  in  a 
world  of  their  own,  which  is  but  one  stratum  or  level  of  our 
mixed  society.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the  selected  group 
of  negroes  found  in  the  upper  grades  of  the  schools.  And  yet 
the  differences,  as  revealed  by  the  mental  tests,  between  the 
pure  negroes  and  the  mulattoes,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  mu- 
lattoes and  the  whites,  on  the  other,  are  not  unlike  in  amount. 
The  mulattoes  who,  with  the  pure  negroes,  live  in  the  com- 
paratively uniform  colored  environment,  which  is  so  greatly 
different  from  the  white  environment,  are  yet  almost  as  near 
to  the  whites  as  to  the  pure  negroes  when  put  to  psychological 
tests.  This  fact  becomes  especially  noteworthy  when  it  is 
considered  that  the  greater  number  of  mulattoes  are  probably 
descended  from  an  inferior  element  among  the  whites,  and 
probably  from  an  inferior  element  among  the  negroes  also. 

Such  considerations  indicate  that  it  is  a  native  ability  and 
not  an  acquired  capacity  that  differentiates  the  mixed  and  the 
pure  negroes,  and  that  skin  color  is  its  outward  sign.  They 
also  indicate  that  the  tests  used  are  primarily  tests  of  native 
capacity,  and  that  consequently  the  differences  found  between 
whites  and  negroes  as  a  whole  are  innate  differences. 

Comparative  Variabilities 

In  recent  years  a  number  of  writers  have  called  attention 
to  the  importance  of  differences  in  the  variability  of  groups 
from  their  central  tendencies.  It  is  pointed  out  that  two 
groups,  as  two  races  or  two  sexes,  may  be  of  the  same  aver- 
age capacity,  but  that  if  one  of  these  groups  is  more  variable 
than  the  other,  certain  significant  differences  will  appear. 


112  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

The  more  variable  group  will  produce  a  greater  number  of 
individuals  of  very  high  capacity  and  also  a  greater  number 
of  very  low  capacity;  within  the  less  variable  group  there 
will  be  more  conformity  to  the  group  type  and  less  diver- 
gence toward  the  extremes.  In  the  former  case  there  will  be 
a  greater  number  of  geniuses  and  of  moral  heroes  than  in  the 
latter,  and  also  a  greater  number  of  idiots  and  of  moral  de- 
generates. This  will  result  in  marked  differences  in  the  rela- 
tive attainments  of  the  groups  as  wholes.  Progress  depends 
upon  the  few  who  stand  out  from  the  crowd  and  invent  new 
and  better  ways  of  doing  things.  The  few  conceive  and  the 
many  appropriate  their  conceptions,  in  all  realms  of  human 
activity.  In  mechanical  and  material  progress,  in  science,  in 
art,  in  literature,  in  religion,  in  politics,  it  is  the  geniuses 
who  make  progress  possible.  And  it  follows  that  a  variable 
group,  other  things  being  equal,  will  achieve  a  higher  type 
of  civilization  than  one  which  is  less  variable. 

In  discussing  this  matter,  Woodworth  writes  as  follows: 
"The  distribution  of  a  trait  is  for  some  purposes  more  im- 
portant than  the  average.  Let  us  suppose,  for  instance,  that 
two  groups  were  the  same  in  their  average  mental  ability, 
but  that  one  group  showed  little  variation,  all  of  its  mem- 
bers being  much  alike  and  of  nearly  the  average  intelligence, 
while  the  other  group  showed  great  variability,  ranging  be- 
tween the  extremes  of  idiocy  and  genius.  It  is  evident  that 
the  two  groups,  though  equal  on  the  average,  would  be  very 
unequal  in  dealing  with  a  situation  which  demanded  great 
mental  ability.  One  master  mind  could  supply  ideas  for  the 
guidance  of  the  group,  and  his  value  would  far  outweigh  the 
load  of  simpletons  which  the  group  must  carry."  ('10,  p.  2) . 

Thorndike  ('10)  writes  to  the  same  effect.  He  claims  that 
men  are  more  variable  than  women,  and  that  on  this  account 
the  greater  part  of  the  genius  and  the  stupidity  of  the  world 
is  found  among  men.  In  discussing  racial  capacity,  he  says: 
"The  comparison  in  variability  is,  as  in  the  case  of  the  sexes, 
of  great  practical  importance.  The  ability  of  a  hundred  of 
its  most  gifted  representatives  often  counts  more  for  a  na- 
tion's or  a  race's  welfare  than  the  ability  of  a  million  of  its 
mediocrities."  '10,  pp.  53-54). 

While  the  importance  of  variability  is  thus  recognized, 
there  is  as  yet  very  little  evidence  bearing  upon  the  relative 
variability  of  diffrent  races.  In  summing  up  the  psychologi- 


COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSES  OF  NEGROES.          113 

cal  results  available  in  1910,  Woodworth  wrote  as  follows: 
"The  dead  level  of  intelligence,  which  is  sometimes  supposed 
to  obtain  among  backward  races,  is  not  borne  out  by  psycho- 
logical tests,  since  individual  differences  are  abundantly  found 
among  all  races,  and,  indeed,  the  variability  of  different  groups 
seems,  from  these  tests,  to  be  about  on  a  par."  ('10,  p.  15). 
Hrdlicka  ('98)  and  Le  Bon  ('98),  as  quoted  in  Chapter  I, 
claim  that  in  physical  traits  whites  are  more  variable  than 
negroes.  Strong  ('13)  states,  as  previously  quoted,  that  the 
lighter-colored  negroes  among  the  122  tested  by  her  were 
more  variable  than  those  of  darker  color.  Mayo,  after  dis- 
cussing the  variability  of  whites  and  negroes,  writes  as  follows 
concerning  the  groups  studied  by  him:  "In  our  own  study  of 
the  two  groups  of  high  school  pupils,  however,  the  fact  of 
greater  racial  mental  variability  is  not  at  all  pronounced, 
though  the  whites  were  slighly  more  variable.  The  average 
deviation  of  the  white  group  from  their  mean  scholastic  at- 
tainment was  7,  while  that  of  the  colored  group  was  6.5." 
('13,  p.  69).  In  addition  to  the  somewhat  inconclusive  find- 
ings of  these  writers,  there  do  not  seem  to  be  any  reliable 
measurements  bearing  upon  the  problem. 

At  present  we  have  no  good  method  of  measuring  the  vari- 
ability of  groups.  Of  course  the  actual  variabilities  may  be 
compared  in  such  terms  as  the  average  deviation  or  the 
probable  error.  But  this  will  be  misleading  if  the  groups 
differ  considerably  in  their  standing  in  the  capacity  in  ques- 
tion. A  higher  average  standing  generally  implies  a  greater 
average  deviation.  If  an  average  score  of  30  has  an  average 
deviation  of  10,  an  average  score  of  20  in  the  same  trait  will 
have  a  smaller  deviation.  The  actual  size  of  the  deviations 
must  therefore  be  considered  in  connection  with  the  size  of 
the  average  scores. 

In  order  to  overcome  this  difficulty,  Pearson  has  proposed 
that  the  deviations  should  be  divided  by  the  group  averages 
before  a  comparison  is  made.  But  this  procedure  is  open  to 
the  objection  that  it  is  not  certain  that  deviations  vary  in 
proportion  to  the  size  of  the  central  tendencies  from  which 
they  are  derived.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  they  more 
nearly  vary  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  square  roots  of 
the  central  tendencies.  Accordingly  Thorndike  ('04)  has 
suggested  that  actual  variabilities  should  be  divided  by  the 


114  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

square  roots  of  averages  rather  than  by  the  averages  them- 
selves. 

Since  there  is  thus  no  single  reliable  measure  of  variability, 
our  procedure  in  the  following  comparisons  will  be  to  set 
forth  the  average  deviations,  the  Pearson  coefficients,  i.e., 
the  deviations  divided  by  the  averages,  and  the  Thorndike  co- 
efficients, i.e.,  the  deviations  divided  by  the  square  roots  of 
the  averages.  And  since  none  of  these  methods  is  wholly 
free  from  objection,  the  average  of  all  three  is  presented  in 
each  case  as  a  combined  coefficient. 

The  variabilities  are  given  in  this  manner  for  the  various 
classes  of  colored  subjects  in  terms  of  percentages  of  the 
variability  of  white  subjects  of  the  same  ages  or  grades. 
The  variability  of  the  whites  is  therefore  to  be  considered 
as  100  in  all  cases.  The  figures  for  the  separate  ages  and 
grades  are  omitted  for  the  sake  of  brevity,  and  only  the  aver- 
ages of  the  different  ages  and  grades  are  presented.  The 
actual  deviations  from  which  the  figures  are  derived  are 
shown  in  the  tables  in  this  and  the  foregoing  chapters  which 
set  forth  the  scores.  Only  the  Richmond  pupils  are  treated 
in  the  comparisons. 

Table  51  shows  the  relative  variabilities  of  the  different 
classes  of  subjects  in  the  age  at  which  they  reached  the  school 
grades  studied.  From  the  averages  it  appears  that  the  pure 
negroes,  the  three-fourths  negroes,  the  mulattoes  and  the 
quadroons  were  66,  91,  87  and  74  per  cent.,  respectively,  as 
variable  as  the  whites;  that  the  pure  and  three-fourths  ne- 
groes combined  and  the  mulattoes  and  quadroons  combined 
were,  respectively,  83  and  95  per  cent,  as  variable  as  the 
whites;  and  that  the  colored  pupils  of  all  classes  combined 

TABLE  LI. 

AGES — VARIABILITY  OF  THE  COLORED  SUBJECTS  IN  PERCENTAGES  OF  THE 
VARIABILITY  OF  THE  WHITE — RICHMOND — BY  GRADES 

Average  Pearson  Thorndike 

Deviation  Coefficient  Coefficient  Av. 

Pure  Negroes                                 68  65                    66  66 

Three-Fourths                                92  90                    91  91 

Mulattoes                                        88  86                    87  87 

Quadroons                                      74  74                    74  74 

Pure   and   Three-Fourths             85  81                     82 

Mulattoes  and  Quadroons           96  94                    95  95 

All  colored                                      90  87                    89  89 


COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSES  OF  NEGROES.         115 

had  89  per  cent,  of  the  white  variability.  The  average  devia- 
tions, the  Pearson  and  the  Thorndike  coefficients  all  give 
practically  the  same  result:  the  negroes  were  less  variable 
than  the  whites. 

The  uniform  behavior  of  the  figures  for  age  variability  is 
in  contrast  with  the  more  uncertain  nature  of  those  which 
show  the  variability  of  the  scores  in  the  tests.  Tables  52-55 
make  the  test  comparisons.  Relying  upon  the  averages,  it 
appears  that  the  pure  negro  boys  are  72,  106  and  63  per  cent, 
as  variable  as  the  white  boys  in  the  Mixed  Relations  Test  I, 
the  Mixed  Relations  Test  II  and  the  completion  test,  respec- 
tively; that  the  pure  negro  girls  are  104,  98  and  84  per  cent. 
as  variable  as  the  white  girls  in  these  respective  tests;  and 
that  the  pure  negroes  when  compared  by  grades  are  85,  85 
and  89  per  cent,  as  variable  as  the  whites  in  these  tests.  The 
figures  which  show  the  relative  variability  of  the  three-fourths 
pure  negroes  in  the  three  tests,  in  the  order  mentioned,  are 
as  follows :  Boys — 69,  86  and  82  per  cent. ;  Girls — 101,  88  and 
56  per  cent. ;  Grades — 99,  110  and  85  per  cent.  The  relative 
variability  of  the  mulattoes  in  the  three  tests  is:  Boys — 90, 
87  and  115  per  cent.;  Girls — 123,  104  and  102  per  cent.; 
Grades — 109,  102  and  100  per  cent.  The  percentages  for  the 
quadroons  are:  Girls — 118,  84  and  57;  Grades — 69,  44  and 
47.  These  figures  are  not  subject  to  any  sure  interpreta- 
tion. But  it  appears  to  be  very  probable  that  the  pure  and 
the  three-fourths  pure  negroes  are  less  variable  than  whites, 
and  that  the  quadroons  are  also  less  variable.  The  com- 
paratively small  number  of  quadroons,  however,  may  be  a 
factor  here.  The  mulattoes  appear  to  have  a  variability  as 
great  as  that  of  the  whites. 

TABLE  LII. 

MIXED   RELATIONS  TEST — VARIABILITY  OF  THE    COLORED    SUBJECTS  IN 
PERCENTAGES  OF  THE    VARIABILITY  OF  THE   WHITE — RICHMOND 

Test  I. 

Average          Pearson  Thorndike 

Boys                                         Deviation       Coefficient  Coefficient  Av. 

Pure   Negroes                                 54                    92                    71  72 

Three-Fourths                                58                    81                     68  69 

Mulattoes                                       79                  101                    90  90 

Pure  and  Three-Fourths  65  106  82  84 

Mulattoes  and  Quadroons  89  107  97  98 

All  colored  90  124  106  107 

Girls 

Pure  Negroes  85       125       103       104 


116 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 


Average  Pearson 
Deviation      Coefficient 

Three-Fourths  85  118 

Mulattoes  114  131 

Quadroons  117  118 

Pure  and  Three-Fourths  88  121 

Mulattoes   and   Quadroons  114  128 

All   colored  103  123 

Grades 

Pure    Negroes  72  98 

Three-Fourths  86  114 

Mulattoes  98  120 

Quadroons  64  73 

Pure   and   Three-Fourths  81  111 

Mulattoes    and    Quadroons  94  112 

All  Colored  89  114 

Test  II. 

Boys 

Pure  Negroes  84  130 

Three-Fourths  68  106 

Mulattoes  78  96 

Pure    and    Three-Fourths  85  135 

Mulattoes  and  Quadroons  92  105 

All  Colored  101  128 

Girls 

Pure  Negroes  78  120 

Three-Fourths  73  104 

Mulattoes  92  117 

Quadroons  81  87 

Pure  and  Three-Fourths  83  120 

Mulattoes  and  Quadroons  86  107 

All  Colored  89  114 

Grades 

Pure  Negroes  72  99 

Three-Fourths  93  129 

Mulattoes  91  115 

Quadroons  40  48 

Pure  and  Three-Fourths  85  117 

Mulattoes    and    Quadroons  84  105 

All  Colored  87  115 


Thorndike 
Coefficient 

100 

123 

118 

103 
121 

112 

84 

98 

109 

69 

95 
103 

102 


104 
85 
86 

108 
99 

114 

96 

88 

104 

84 

100 


101 

85 
109 
101 

44 

100 
95 

100 


Av. 
101 
123 
118 

104 
121 

113 

85 

99 

109 

69 

96 
103 

102 


106 

86 
87 

109 
99 

114 

98 

88 

104 

84 

101 
96 

101 

85 
110 
102 

44 

101 
95 

101 


TABLE  LIII. 

COMPLETION   TEST — VARIABILITY   OF  THE   COLORED   SUBJECTS   IN   PER- 
CENTAGES OF  THE  VARIABILITY  OF  THE  WHITE — RICHMOND 


Pure  Negroes 
Three-Fourths 
Mulattoes 


Average 
Deviation 

Pearson 
Coefficient 

Thorndike 
Coefficient 

Av. 

50 
71 

102 

77 
94 
129 

62 
82 
114 

63 
82 
115 

Pure  and  Three-Fourths 


68 


98 


82 


83 


COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSES  OF  NEGROES. 


117 


Average  Pearson        Thorndike 

Deviation      Coefficient      Coefficient  Av. 

Mulattoes  and  Quadroons  100  121  111  111 

All  Colored  85  109  97  97 

Girls 

Pure   Negroes  71  97  83  84 

Three-Fourths  49  63  56  56 

Mulattoes  92  113  102  102 

Quadroons  56  57  57  57 

Pure  i:nd  Three-Fourths  68  89  78  78 

Mulattoes  and  Quadroons  89  106  98  98 

All  Colored  71  89  81  80 

Grades 

Pure  Negroes  80  98  89  89 

Three-Fourths  75  95  84  85 

Mulattoes  91  109  100  100 

Quadroons  45  49  47  47 

Pure  and  Three-Fourths  82  102  93  92 

Mulattoes  and  Quadroons  84  100  93  92 

All  Colored  84  102  93  93 


TABLE  LIV. 

MAZE  TEST — VARIABILITY  OP  THE  COLORED  SUBJECTS  IN  PERCENTAGES 
OP  THE  VARIABILITY  OF  THE  WHITE— RICHMOND 


Boys— All  Colored 

Touches 

Distance 

Girls— All  Colored 

Touches 

Distance 

Grades — All  Colored 

Touches 

Distance 


Average          Pearson        Thorndike 
Deviation       Coefficient      Coefficient 


87 
91 

105 
121 

82 
91 


126 
109 

174 
153 

118 
105 


104 
100 

136 
136 

100 
100 


Av. 

106 
100 

138 
137 

100 
99 


TABLE  LV. 

CANCELLATION  TEST — VARIABILITY  OF  THE  COLORED  SUBJECTS  IN  PER- 
CENTAGES OP  THE  VARIABILITY  OF  THE  WHITE — RICHMOND 


Boys — All  Colored 

Omissions 

Cancellations 

Girls — All  Colored 

Omissions 

Cancellations 

Grades — All  Colored 

Omissions 

Cancellations 


Average          Pearson        Thorndike 
Deviation      Coefficient      Coefficient 


172 
103 

153 
127 

167 
103 


89 
105 

113 
113 

106 
94 


122 
104 

133 

120 

133 

98 


Av. 

128 
104 

133 
120 

135 

98 


118  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

The  combined  pure  and  three-fourths  pure  negroes,  when 
compared  with  whites,  have  relative  variabilities  as  follows 
in  the  Mixed  Relations  Test  I,  the  Mixed  Relations  Test  II  and 
the  completion  test,  respectively:  Boys — 84,  109  and  83  per 
cent. ;  Girls— 104,  101  and  78  per  cent. ;  Grades— 96,  101  and 

92  per  cent.     The  figures  for  the  combined  mulattoes  and 
quadroons  show  that  they  have  the  following  relative  varia- 
bilities in  the  three  tests:  Boys — 98,  99   and   111   per  cent.; 
Girls— 121,  96  and  98  per  cent. ;  Grades— 103,  95  and  92  per 
cent.    It  is  thus  probable  that  the  mulattoes  and  quadroons 
are  slightly  more  variable  than  the  pure  and  three-fourths 
pure  negroes,  but  here  again  the  results  are  not  certain.    Both 
classifications  appear  to  have  not  far  from  the  white  varia- 
bility. 

When  all  classes  of  negroes  are  grouped  together  and  com- 
pared with  whites,  they  show  the  following  relative  variabili- 
ties in  the  three  tests  mentioned:  Boys — 107,  114  and  97  per 
cent. ;  Girls— 113,  101  and  80  per  cent. ;  Grades— 102,  101  and 

93  per  cent.    The  colored  subjects  as  a  whole  had  a  greater 
rather  than  a  less  variability  than  the  white. 

This  last  statement  is  reinforced  by  the  figures  from  the 
maze  and  cancellation  tests.  In  the  maze  test,  the  colored 
boys  were  106  and  100  per  cent,  as  variable  as  the  white  boys 
in  touches  and  distance  respectively;  the  colored  girls  were 
138  and  137  per  cent,  as  variable  as  the  white  girls  in  touches 
and  distance;  the  colored  grades  were  100  and  99  per  cent, 
as  variable  as  the  white  in  touches  and  distance.  In  the  can- 
cellation test,  the  figures  showing  the  relative  colored  varia- 
bility in  omissions  and  cancellations,  respectively,  were: 
Boys— 128  and  104  per  cent.;  Girls— 133  and  120  per  cent.; 
Grades — 135  and  98  per  cent.  The  negroes  in  these  tests 
were  more  variable  than  the  whites,  all  classes  of  colored  sub- 
jects being  grouped  together. 

In  addition  to  these  figures  from  Tables  52-55,  attention 
should  be  called  to  those  in  Tables  39-43  and  46-50  as  indica- 
tions of  the  relative  variability  of  the  different  sub-classes 
of  negroes.  These  tables  give  the  probable  errors  of  the 
scores  made  by  the  various  classes  of  negroes  when  compared 
with  whites.  The  probable  errors  show  a  marked  uniformity 
in  being  smaller  for  the  darker-colored  negroes  and  larger  for 
those  of  lighter  color.  That  is,  they  show  that  in  the  case 
of  the  darker  negroes  the  separate  age  and  grade  groups  va- 
ried less  with  respect  to  their  own  average  difference  from 


COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSES  OF  NEGROES.         119 

corresponding  white  age  and  grade  groups.  Now  this  greater 
constancy  among  the  differences  for  the  separate  ages  and 
grades  of  darker  negroes  might  have  been  due  to  chance  if  it 
had  occurred  only  infrequently.  For  example,  if  the  scores 
of  four  white  grades  are  40,  50,  40  and  50,  and  the  scores  of 
four  corresponding  colored  grades  are  20,  30,  20  and  30,  the 
differences  between  these  grades  will  be  20,  20,  20  and  20,  and 
the  probable  error  will  be  zero.  But  if  the  four  corresponding 
colored  grades  have  scores  of  30,  20,  30  and  20,  the  differences 
will  be  10,  30,  10  and  30,  and  the  probable  error  will  be  5.  The 
actual  scores  and  the  actual  average  differences  are  the  same 
in  the  two  cases,  but  a  chance  arrangement  in  the  correspon- 
dence of  the  scores  alters  the  probable  errors.  And  if  the 
difference  from  the  whites  of  first  the  lighter  and  then  the 
darker  negroes  had  the  smaller  probable  error,  we  could  at- 
tach no  significance  to  the  fact.  But  the  smaller  probable 
error  in  the  case  of  the  darker-colored  negroes  occurs  with  a 
uniformity  which  cannot  be  ascribed  to  chance.  And  we  must 
suppose  that  it  is  due  to  a  greater  constancy  in  the  scores 
of  the  individuals  within  the  darker  age  and  grade  groups 
themselves.  This  greater  constancy  of  the  individual  scores 
would  be  reflected  in  the  greater  constancy  of  the  separate 
group  scores  and  hence  in  the  smaller  probable  error  of  such 
scores.  And  consequently  we  have  a  further  indication  of  the 
smaller  variability  of  the  negroes  of  comparatively  pure 
blood. 

On  the  whole,  it  appears  that  the  pure  negroes,  the  three- 
fourths  pure  negroes  and  the  quadroons  varied  less  than  did 
the  whites ;  that  the  mulattoes  did  not  differ  from  the  whites 
in  variability ;  that  the  combined  pure  and  three-fourths  pure 
negroes  and  the  combined  mulattoes  and  quadroons  had  not 
far  from  white  variability,  and  that  the  latter  class  varied 
slightly  more  than  did  the  former;  that  the  colored  subjects 
of  all  classes  together  had  a  greater  variability  than  the  white. 
But  these  conclusions  are  only  approximately  certain.  The 
average  coefficients  upon  which  they  are  based  are  not  uni- 
form in  their  import,  and  the  separate  coefficients  taken  by 
themselves  are  not  more  so.  If  we  consider  only  the  actual 
variabilities,  the  white  are  clearly  more  variable  than  the  col- 
ored subjects,  except  in  the  cancellation  test,  and  the  sub- 
classes of  negroes,  particularly  those  of  darker  color,  are 
much  less  variable  than  the  negroes  as  a  whole.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  note  that  the  colored  girls  had  generally  a  greater 


120 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 


variability  than  the  colored  boys  when  compared  with  whites. 
Figures  25-28  are  inserted  to  show  graphically  the  relative 
distribution  of  the  two  races  in  one  test — the  completion. 
This  distribution  is  fairly  typical  of  that  found  in  the  other 
tests.  All  classes  of  negroes  are  included.  In  the  graphs 
the  boys  and  girls  are  treated  separately,  but  the  elementary 
pupils  are  grouped  together,  as  are  the  high  school  pupils. 


Score  O    V 


SC 


Fig.  25.  Completion  Test — Distribution  of  the  Scores  of  White  and 
Colored  Subjects — Grammar-Grade  Boys — Richmond. 

The  solid  and  the  broken  lines  indicate  the  scores  of  the  white  and 
the  colored  subjects,  respectively. 


Pet. 
20 


Score  0     V      9    12    /£   20  2H  29-22  3L  VO  tf 


Fig.  26.     Completion  Test— Distribution  of  the  Scores  of  White  and 
Colored  Subjects — Grammar-Grade  Girls — Richmond. 


COMPARISON  OF  SUB-CLASSES  OF  NEGROES. 


121 


Pet. 
30 


a 


Score  O 


32  3l>   to 


Fig.  27.    Completion  Test  —  Distribution  of  the  Scores  of  White  and 
Colored  Subjects  —  High  School  Boys  —  Richmond. 


20 


9 


Score  O     V      ?     12    /£    10 


2?  32  36 


W  50 


Fig.  28.  Completion  Test  —  Distribution  of  the  Scores  of  White  and 
Colored  Subjects  —  High  School  Girls  —  Richmond. 

This  procedure  is  permissible  on  the  ground  that  within 
either  the  elementary  or  the  high  school  grades  tested  the 
pupils  do  not  differ  significantly  from  age  to  age,  as  was 
shown  in  Chapter  III.  The  number  of  pupils  obtaining  a 
given  score  was  in  all  cases  reduced  to  a  percentage  of  the 
total  number  in  the  distribution. 

From  the  graphs  it  appears  that  the  white  elementary  boys 
and  the  white  elementary  girls  are  probably  more  variable 
than  the  colored,  but  that  the  colored  subjects,  particularly 
the  boys,  are  probably  the  more  variable  in  the  high  school. 
But  no  certain  conclusion  as  to  racial  variability  can  be 
reached.  It  appears  more  certain  that  the  boys  are  more 
variable  than  the  girls.  Incidentally,  attention  may  be  called 
to  the  comparison  of  racial  ability  revealed  by  the  graphs. 
They  make  plain  the  extensive  overlapping  of  the  scores  of 
the  whites  and  negroes.  Even  where  there  is  a  great  differ- 


122 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 


ence  between  the  average  scores  of  the  two  races  and  where 
only  a  small  percentage  of  the  negroes  reaches  or  exceeds  the 
average  of  the  whites,  the  overlapping  is  great  and  should 
not  be  overlooked. 

It  may  finally  be  remarked  with  regard  to  the  relative  vari- 
ability of  whites  and  negroes,  that  it  would  not  be  at  all  sur- 
prising if  groups  of  so-called  negroes  were  definitely  shown  to 
be  more  variable  than  comparable  groups  of  whites.  For  the 
groups  that  are  generally  called  negroes  are  composed  of  in- 
dividuals ranging  from  pure  negroes  to  persons  almost  white, 
and  it  would  be  reasonable  to  suppose  that  such  groups  would 
vary  more  than  would  homogeneous  white  groups.  They  are 
not  composed  of  one  race  but  of  two.  Of  course  it  may  be 
that  the  variability  of  the  negro  race  falls  entirely  within 
the  extremes  of  variability  of  the  white,  but  this  would  not 
offset  the  greater  average  deviation  that  would  be  caused  by 
the  relative  tendency  to  bi-niodality,  or  at  least  to  flatness 
of  distribution,  in  a  mixed  negro  and  mulatto  group.  This 
consideration  should  be  taken  into  account  in  all  studies  of 
the  variability  of  whites  and  negroes.  It  would  be  interest- 
ing and  useful  to  know  whether  colored  people,  negroes  and 
mulattoes  together,  vary  as  much  as  do  whites.  But  this 
information  would  not  inform  us  as  to  the  relative  variability 
of  the  white  and  negro  races. 


CHAPTER  V. 
CONCLUSION 

By  way  of  summary  of  the  various  considerations  which 
have  come  to  light  in  this  study,  we  may  say  that  the  average 
performance  of  the  colored  population  of  this  country  in  such 
intellectual  work  as  that  represented  by  the  tests  of  higher 
capacity,  appears  to  be  only  about  three-fourths  as  efficient 
as  the  performance  of  whites  of  the  same  amount  of  training. 
It  is  probable,  indeed,  that  this  estimate  is  too  high  rather 
than  too  low.  The  groups  of  whites  and  negroes  studied  are 
not  typical  of  the  white  and  colored  populations  in  general; 
their  ability  is  undoubtedly  considerably  above  the  average. 
But  the  negroes  were  probably  farther  above  their  racial  av- 
erage than  were  the  whites.  If  one  were  to  test  the  capacity  of 
the  unselected  masses  of  negroes,  with  tneir much  smaller  per- 
centage of  white  blood,  and  mate" a  comparison  with  unselect- 
ed masses  of  whites,  the  results  would  almost  certainly  reveal 
greater  racial  differences  than  those  found  herein. 

All  of  the  experimental  work  which  has  been  done  has 
pointed  to  the  same  general  conclusion.  The  bulk  of  it  has 
shown  a  greater  racial  difference  than  that  found  in  Rich- 
mond, and  has  been  more  comparable  in  its  results  with  the 
findings  recorded  for  Fredicksburg  and  Newport  News.  The 
opinions  of  the  great  majority  of  those  who  have  come  into 
contact  with  the  negro,  and  the  views  of  nearly  all  of  those 
who  have  studied  the  question  from  standpoints  other  than 
experimental,  are  in  substantial  agreement  with  the  quantita- 
tive evidence. 

In  the  present  state  of  the  advancement  of  science  it  does 
not  seem  possible  to  make  adequate  tests  of  those  vastly  im- 
portant qualities  which  are  included  in  the  feeling  and  dy- 
namic, rather  than  in  the  intellectual,  side  of  mental  life.  It 
is  the  common  opinion  that  the  negro  differs  more  from  the 
white  in  such  traits  than  in  intellect  proper.  His  emotions 
are  generally  believed  to  be  strong  and  volatile  in  their  mani- 

123 


124  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

f  estations ;  whether  this  is  due  to  their  intrinsic  nature  or  to  a 
lack  of  restraint,  is  an  untouched  problem.  Instability  of 
character  is  ascribed  to  the  negro,  involving  a  lack  of  fore- 
sight, an  improvidence,  a  lack  of  persistence^  small  power  of 
serious  initiative,  a  tendency  to  be  content  with  immediate 
satisfactions,  deficient  ambition.  But  the  evidence  that  such 
characteristics  constitute  a  true  racial  difference  cannot  be 
called  conclusive,  and  the  psychological  causes  underlying 
them  have  not  been  adequately  investigated.  Along  with 
high  emotionality  and  instability  of  character,  defective  mo- 
rality is  held  to  be  a  negro  characteristic.  This  is  as  subject 
to  debate  as  are  the  other  qualities,  though  it  is  apparently 
supported  by  social  statistics.*  It  may  be  that  the  total  cir- 
cumstances of  his  life  are  such  as  would  lead  to  immorality 
even  were  the  negro  possessed  of  the  psychic  nature  of  the 
white  man. 

On  the  other  hand,  while  it  is  impossible  to  arrive  at  an 
exact  knowledge  of  the  relative  amounts  of  such  important 
but  intangible  traits  in  the  two  races,  it  must  be  said  that  the 
evidence  of  experience  and  observation  cannot  be  disregarded. 
Such  evidence  is  often  wholly  unscientific  and  worthless,  but 
not  always  so.  Strong  and  changing  emotions,  an  improvi- 
dent character  and  a  tendency  to  immoral  conduct  are  not 
unallied.  They  are  all  rooted  in  uncontrolled  impulse.  And  a 
factor  which  may  tend  to  produce  all  three  is  a  deficient  de- 
velopment of  the  more  purely  intellectual  capacities.  Where 
the  implications  of  ideas  are  not  apprehended,  where  thought 
is  not  lively  and  fertile,  where  meanings  and  consequences 
are  not  grasped,  the  need  for  the  control  of  impulse  will  not 
be  felt.  And  the  demonstrable  deficiency  of  the  negro  in  in- 
tellectual traits  may  involve  the  dynamic  deficiencies  which 
common  opinion  claims  to  exist. 

The  available  evidence  indicates  that  in  the  so-called  lower 
traits  there  is  no  great  difference  between  the  negro  and  the 
white.  In  motor  capacity  there  is  probably  no  appreciable 

*  Statistics  concerning  the  sexual  immorality,  as  indicated  by  ille- 
gitimate births,  of  whites  and  negroes  in  the  District  of  Columbia  have 
recently  been  published  by  Ottenberg  ('15).  In  1912  and  1913  the  total 
of  all  births  reported  to  the  Health  Department  was  13,910,  of  which 
number  1374,  or  approximately  10  per  cent,  were  illegitimate.  There 
were  four  times  as  many  illegitimate  births  of  colored  as  of  white  chil- 
dren reported,  and  yet  the  colored  population  was  only  about  one-half 
as  large  as  the  white.  Statistics  showing  the  very  much  larger  per- 
centage of  negroes  than  of  whites  convicted  of  crime  are  too  well  known 
to  require  quotation  here. 


CONCLUSION.  125 

racial  difference.  In  sense  capacity,  in  perceptive  and  dis-A 
criminative  ability,  there  is  likewise  a  practical  equality.  It 
is  in  the  central  elaborative  powers  upon  which  thought  more 
directly  depends  that  differences  exist,  not  in  the  simpler  re- 
ceptive and  discharging  functions.  It  seems  as  though  the 
white  type  has  attained  a  level  of  higher  development,  based 
upon  the  common  elementary  capacities,  which  the  negro  has 
not  reached  to  the  same  degree.  From  the  nature  of  the  men- 
tal differences,  one  would  infer  that  such  neural  differences 
as  may  be  found  will  probably  be  mainly  in  the  constitution 
of  the  cortical  neurones,  rather  than  elsewhere  in  the  nervous 
system. 

While  the  intellectual  performance  of  the  general  colored 
population  is  approximately  75  per  cent,  as  efficient  as  that  of 
whites,  this  figure  is  not  true  for  different  classes  of  negroes. 
It  is  probably  correct  to  say  that  pure  negroes,  negroes  three- 
fourths  pure,  mulattoes  and  quadroons  have,  roughly,  60,  70, 
80  and  90  per  cent.,  respectively,  of  white  intellectual  effici- 
ency. If  it  were  possible  to  distinguish  these  four  classes  of 
negroes  so  accurately  as  to  avoid  overlapping,  it  is  probable 
that  the  differences  revealed  by  tests  would  be  greater  rather 
than  less  than  those  indicated  by  the  figures. 

The  educational  significance  of  the  available  facts  is  difficult 
to  determine.  The  negro's  intellectual  deficiency  is  regis- 
tered in  the  retardation  percentages  of  the  schools  as  well  as 
in  mental  tests.  And  in  view  of  all  the  evidence  it  does  not 
seem  possible  to  raise  the  scholastic  attainment  of  the  negro 
to  an  equality  with  that  of  the  white.  It  is  probable  that  no 
expenditure  of  time  or  of  money  would  accomplish  this  end, 
since  education  cannot  create  mental  power,  but  can  only  de- 
velop that  which  is  innate. 

The  movement  toward  industrial  education  for  the  negro 
finds  sanction  in  the  studies  of  his  psychology.  Without 
great  ability  in  the  processes  of  abstract  thought,  the  negro 
is  yet  very  capable  in  the  sensory  and  motor  powers  which 
are  involved  in  manual  work.  And  economy  would  indicate 
that  training  should  be  concentrated  upon  those  capacities 
which  promise  the  best  return  for  the  educative  effort  ex- 
pended. Social  conditions,  of  course,  have  been  the  main  in- 
centive to  the  growth  of  industrial  education  among  negroes, 


126  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

and  in  themselves  they  are  sufficient  reason  for  emphasiz- 
ing an  intensely  practical  training.  But  the  mental  nature 
of  the  negro  gives  reason  for  believing  that  this  sort  of  edu- 
cation is  the  only  one  which  will  avoid  great  waste.  Dimin- 
ishing educational  returns  will  be  more  serious  in  the  intel- 
lectual than  in  the  industrial  education  of  the  negro. 

There  is  need  of  experiment  to  determine  the  relative  ability 
of  colored  and  white  persons  in  the  intelligent  handling  of 
concrete  materials.  All  of  the  experiments  so  far  undertaken 
have  dealt  with  thought  material  as  represented  by  words 
rather  than  by  objects.  Tests  which  involve  mechanical  ma- 
nipulations have  not  been  tried.  It  is  possible  that  reasoning 
based  upon  objects  present  to  sense  may  not  correlate  highly 
with  reasoning  based  upon  the  mental  representations  of  ob- 
jects, and  that  the  negro  may  therefore  more  nearly  approach 
the  white  in  the  former  than  he  does  in  the  latter  sort  of 
thinking.  The  writer  expects  to  undertake  a  series  of  experi- 
ments upon  the  comparative  intellectual  ability  of  the  two 
races  in  mechanical  tests,  and  if  the  difference  between  them 
is  less  than  that  revealed  by  tests  of  a  more  literary  nature, 
additional  sanction  will  be  given  to  the  reasonableness  of  in- 
dustrial education. 

But  while  it  thus  appears  that  for  the  colored  population 
as  a  whole  a  manual  is  more  practicable  than  a  literary  educa- 
tion, it  must  not  be  overlooked  that  there  are  individual  col- 
ored persons  of  great  ability.  The  widely  held  doctrine  that 
the  negro's  mental  growth  comes  to  a  comparative  standstill 
at  adolescence  does  not  find  corroboration  in  the  results  of 
tests.  The  groups  so  far  tested,  indeed,  show  that  after 
adolescence  the  negro  more  nearly  approachs  the  white  than 
before.  This  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the  adoles- 
cent negroes  tested  are  a  more  closely  selected  group 
than  those  who  have  not  reached  adolescence.  The  adolescent 
negroes  in  the  schools  have  more  white  blood  in  them.  And 
racial  differences  at  adolescence  may  exist  in  the  feeling  and 
dynamic  sides  of  mental  life,  which  have  not  been  tested.  If 
there  are  such  differences  they  will  most  likely  appear  just 
here.  But  so  far  as  has  been  demonstrated,  the  negro's  intel- 
lectual development  proceeds  as  rapidly  after  puberty  as  does 
that  of  the  white.  Then,  too,  the  variability  of  the  negroes 
and  the  overlapping  of  ability  in  the  two  races,  make  it  neces- 
sary to  expect  very  able  colored  persons  to  be  found  in  every 


CONCLUSION.  127 

large  group.  In  the  main,  the  most  capable  colored  individ- 
uals will  be  mulattoes,  although  there  are  fewer  mulattoes 
than  pure  negroes. 

Since  comparisons  between  races  are  frequently  made  in 
terms  of  the  number  of  eminent  men  produced  by  each,  it  is 
interesting  to  make  a  rough  computation  as  to  the  number  of 
pure  negroes,  mulattoes  and  whites  that  may  be  expected  to 
demonstrate  great  ability  in  the  United  States.  This  com- 
putation lays  no  claim  to  other  than  approximate  validity. 
It  is  based  upon  the  "law  of  deviation  from  an  average"  as 
employed  by  Francis  Galton  ('92,  p.  22  ff.),  and  in  making  it 
the  variability  of  each  class  of  the  population  is  considered  as 
being  the  same.  Of  course,  if  the  variability  of  pure  negroes 
is  less  than  that  of  whites,  as  is  probable,  the  number  of  very 
able  negroes  will  be  less  than  is  indicated  by  the  following 
figures. 

We  may  take  as  our  standard  of  eminence  the  one  chosen 
by  Galton,  viz.,  attainment  so  great  that  it  is  reached  by  only 
one  man  in  4300.  In  each  million  men  there  are  248  persons 
of  this  standing.  Now  there  are  approximately  18,000,000 
white  men,  1,600,000  pure  negro  men  and  400,000  men  who 
are  mulattoes  in  this  country.  Consequently,  if  all  three 
classes  have  the  same  ability,  there  will  be  4464  eminent 
white  men,  397  eminent  pure  negroes  and  99  eminent  mulat- 
toes. 

But  if  we  assume  that  pure  negroes  average  75  per  cent, 
of  white  ability  and  that  mulattoes  average  87.5  per  cent,  of 
white  ability,  we  find  the  following  situation  growing  out  of 
the  law  of  deviation  from  an  average.*  In  a  million  of  each 
class  of  men,  there  will  be  248  whites,  15  mulattoes  and  1 
pure  negro  who  will  attain  the  above-mentioned  degree  of 
eminence.  Considering  the  number  of  these  three  classes 

*To  carry  out  the  computation  based  upon  this  assumption  it  is  neces- 
sary to  postulate  a  zero  point  of  ability,  and  the  capacity  of  the  lowest 
idiot  is  taken  as  this  zero  point.  That  this  may  be  done  without  violence 
to  the  facts  is  indicated  by  the  descriptions  of  idiocy  given  in  works  on 
mental  deficiency.  Thus  Tredgold  ('08)  writes  of  profound  idiots  that 
their  brief  existence  may  almost  be  called  vegetative.  They  are  devoid 
of  instincts,  they  lie  huddled  in  an  ante-natal  posture,  food  must  be 
placed  in  their  mouths,  and  their  life  activities  hardly  extend  beyond 
respiration,  assimilation  and  excretion.  "They  have  eyes,  but  they  see 
not;  ears,  but  they  hear  not;  they  have  no  intelligence  and  no  conscious- 
ness of  pleasure  or  pain;  in  fact,  their  mental  state  is  one  entire  nega- 
tion." ('08,  p.  171). 


128  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

in  the  total  population,  there  will  be  4464  eminent  whites, 
6  eminent  mulattoes  and  2  eminent  negroes  in  the  United 
States. 

These  figures  are  suggestive.  If  we  take  it  that  there  are 
4464  eminent  white  men  in  America,  there  are  certainly  not 
397  pure  negroes  and  99  mulattoes  of  the  same  degree  of 
eminence.  There  are  more  nearly  6  mulattoes  and  2  pure 
negroes  to  4464  eminent  whites.  Definite  figures  are  not  ob- 
tainable, but  such  lists  of  men  of  achievement  as  have  been 
compiled  accord  with  the  latter  set  of  figures  far  more  closely 
than  with  the  former. 

Of  course  it  may  be  held  that  social  conditions  make  it  im- 
possible for  colored  ability  to  assert  itself.  There  may  be 
potentially  eminent  men  among  the  negroes  who  are  not  able 
to  attain  their  commensurate  achievement  on  account  of  en- 
vironmental conditions.  On  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  said 
that  the  best  opinion,  as  that  of  Galton,  holds  that  eminence 
is  independent  of  circumstance;  that  innate  power  can  be 
neither  crushed  nor  created  by  adverse  or  favorable  influences. 
And  it  may  be  further  contended  that  ability  among  negroes 
is  all  the  more  readily  recognized  just  because  of  their  gen- 
erally low  level  of  racial  attainment.  A  man  of  mark  among 
them  stands  out  becauuse  of  his  rarity,  and  his  opportunities 
are  increased  because  of  this  recognition. 

As  an  indication  of  the  greater  ability  of  mulattoes  than 
of  pure  negroes,  it  may  be  remarked  that  such  lists  as  we 
have  of  colored  leaders,  e.g.,  those  quoted  in  Chapters  I  and 
IV,  show  a  larger  proportion  of  men  of  mixed  than  of  unmixed 
blood.  And  this  despite  the  fact  that  there  are  probably 
four  times  as  many  pure  negroes  as  mulattoes  in  the  country. 

Although  the  available  facts  are  very  few  and  inexact,  such 
as  they  are  they  serve  to  justify  rather  than  to  controvert 
the  deductions  from  the  law  of  variability.  And  in  so  far  as 
the  deductions  are  borne  out,  the  assumed  racial  inequality 
upon  which  they  are  based  is  confirmed. 

There  are  few  more  controversial  subjects  than  that  of  the 
outlook  for  the  negro  race  in  America,  and  it  is  not  within 
the  province  of  this  monograph  to  attempt  a  discussion  of 
the  topic.  But  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  mention  certain 
considerations  that  have  presented  themselves.  Conclusions 
concerning  the  negro's  possibilities  in  this  country  are  fre- 


CONCLUSION.  129 

quently  drawn  from  a  study  of  the  various  small  negro  re- 
publics, such  as  Haiti,  Santo  Domingo  and  Liberia,  and  opin- 
ions so  arrived  at  are  not  without  their  value.  Yet  there  are 
differences  between  the  position  of  the  American  negro  and 
that  of  the  negro  in  the  isolated  states  in  question.  It  should 
be  noticed  that  the  number  of  American  negroes  is  larger 
than  the  number  in  any  of  the  negro  republics.  Progress  de- 
pends upon  the  size  of  a  group  as  well  as  upon  its  average 
capacity.  Other  things  being  equal,  the  larger  group  will  pro- 
duce more  very  able  individuals,  and  such  individuals,  as  was 
previously  pointed  out,  furnish  the  ideas  and  the  inspiration 
for  the  whole  group.  And  the  American  negro  is  in  much 
closer  contact  with  the  white  race  than  are  the  inhabitants 
of  the  independent  negro  countries.  This  contact  gives  him 
the  advantage  of  white  encouragement,  achievement,  example 
and  control,  and  enables  him  to  appropriate  to  his  own  use 
the  products  of  white  genius.  Races,  or  nations,  between 
which  there  is  free  intercommunication  make  greater  progress 
than  do  isolated  peoples,  for  the  results  of  the  ability  of  one 
race  are  more  readily  taken  over  and  incorporated  into  the 
life  of  the  other.  Hence  we  may  reasonably  expect  the  col- 
ored people  of  America  to  show  a  higher  type  of  civilization 
than  those  jpf  their  race  who  are  differently  situated,  even 
though  the  native  ability  of  the  negro  is  everywhere  the 
same. 

In  this  connection  Thorndike  writes  as  follows:  "The  orig- 
ination of  advances  in  civilization  is  a  measure  of  ability,  but 
the  abilities  that  have  originated  them  have  probably  been 
confined  to  a  very  few  men.  A  race  that  originated  none  of 
them  may  now  possess  them  all.  Even  if  a  race  has  been 
completely  isolated,  its  civililzation  has  been  originated  by 
only  a  few  of  its  members;  and  the  chance  of  men  of  great 
gifts  being  born  is  the  result  not  only  of  the  central  ten- 
dency of  a  race  and  its  variability,  but  also  of  its  size.  Other 
things  being  equal,  there  is  a  far  greater  chance  of  the  birth 
of  a  man  of  great  ability  in  a  tribe  of  a  million  than  in  one 
of  a  thousand.  Since  one  such  man  may  add  to  the  knowl- 
edge and  improve  the  habits  of  the  entire  group  regardless 
of  its  size,  civilization  will  progress  more  rapidly  in  large 
than  in  small  groups,  in  a  condition  of  isolation. 

"The  civilized  races  have  not  remained  isolated  and  have 
got  most  of  their  civilization  from  without.  Of  ten  equally 


130  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

gifted  races  in  perfect  intercourse  each  will  originate  only 
one-tenth  of  what  it  gets.  The  original  nature  of  the  Ger- 
mans of  to-day  is  not  much  different  from  that  of  their  an- 
cestors in  the  time  of  Tacitus,  and  their  progress  in  the  mean- 
time is  not  properly  theirs,  but  that  of  the  European  world 
and  its  American  colony,  each  of  whose  racial  stocks  has 
added  something  to  the  common  fund."  ('10,  p.  67). 

But  probably  the  greatest  difference  between  the  American 
negro  and  the  members  of  his  race  in  the  relatively  isolated 
negro  communities  elsewhere,  will  eventually  be  found  in  the 
greater  amount  of  white  blood  which  the  American  negro 
will  possess.  In  the  course  of  generations,  if  the  present  or 
a  similar  rate  of  white  admixture  continues,  there  will  be  few 
if  any  pure  negroes  remaining  in  the  United  States.  The 
whole  of  our  colored  population  will  be  mulatto,  and  as  time 
passes  the  proportion  of  white  blood  will  increase.  This  will 
be  inevitable  from  the  fact  that  white  blood  once  infused  into 
the  negro  community  will  remain  there  and  be  continued 
by  intermarriage  among  the  negroes  from  generation  to  gen- 
eration. The  white  blood  in  a  mulatto  does  not  return  to  the 
white  race  through  intermarriage;  the  white  stock  will  re- 
main pure.  It  is  among  the  negroes  that  a  mulatto's  white 
inheritance  is  diffused.  Such  a  continued  raising  of  the 
amount  of  white  blood  in  the  negroes  is  of  course  dependent 
upon  a  continuance  of  some  degree  of  race  intermixture;  but 
there  is  no  valid  reason  for  believing  that  intermixture  will 
wholly  cease. 

This  consideration  will  in  time  work  a  great  change  in  the 
race  problem  in  America,  and  it  may  both  simplify  and  com- 
plicate the  interracial  situation.  On  the  one  hand,  the  negro 
will  have  greater  ability,  and  there  will  be  less  difference 
between  the  races.  The  standard  of  colored  achievement  will 
be  higher.  But  on  the  other  hand,  race  friction  may  be  in- 
creased. The  mulatto  is  not  as  tractable  or  as  submissive  to 
white  domination  as  is  the  pure  negro.  He  thinks  and  feels 
more  nearly  as  does  the  white  man.  And  he  cannot  be  con- 
tent with  the  social  restrictions  that  are  thrown  around  him. 
In  our  own  time  these  tendencies  seem  to  be  already  evident. 
The  very  considerable  progress  that  the  negro  has  made  has 
been  in  large  measure  due  to  mulattoes.  And  it  is  mainly 
the  mulattoes  who  have  so  largely  done  away  with  that  type 
of  negro  which  was  content  to  regard  itself  as  the  natural 


CONCLUSION.  131 

dependent  of  the  white.  It  seems  probable,  indeed,  that  the 
excessive  criminal  and  immoral  tendencies  sometimes  charged 
to  the  mulatto  may  be  due,  if  they  exist  at  all,  to  the  fact 
of  his  recognition  of  his  ability  and  his  resentment  at  the 
position  of  inferiority  in  which  he  is  placed. 

The  statement  is  frequently  made  that  mulattoes  are  of  a 
less  hardy  physical  nature  than  are  pure  negroes,  and  that 
their  death  rate  is  therefore  higher.  There  is  no  reliable 
evidence  of  this.  On  the  contrary,  there  is  a  not  unfounded 
opinion  that  half-breeds  from  colored  Asiastic  and  white 
European  stock  are  longer  lived  than  the  original  races  from 
which  they  spring. 

There  is  evidence  that  the  colored  population  as  a  whole 
has  a  considerably  higher  death  rate  than  the  white.  In  the 
U.  S.  Census  ('13)  are  given  the  death  rates  for  different 
classes  of  the  population  in  the  area  of  registration.  This 
area  embraces  twenty-three  states  in  the  North  and  the  West, 
and  certain  cities  but  no  states  in  the  South.  The  death  rate 
for  native  whites,  per  1000,  is  15.7 ;  for  foreign-born  whites  it 
is  18.9;  for  negroes  it  is  25.0.  In  Washington,  D.  C.,  the 
white  death  rate  is  15.5;  the  colored  is  26.6  In  Baltimore, 
the  white  death  rate  is  16.2;  the  colored  is  30.9.  In  New 
Orleans,  the  white  death  rate  is  16.6 ;  the  colored  is  31.2.  At 
all  ages  the  colored  death  rate  is  the  higher.  In  the  Vir- 
ginia cities,  Alexandria,  Danville,  Lynchburg,  Norfolk,  Peters- 
burg, Richmond  and  Roanoke,  the  average  death  rate  for 
both  races  combined  is  20.6.  But  in  these  cities  there  are 
3502  deaths  of  negroes  to  3429  deaths  of  whites,  and  yet  the 
colored  population  is  only  about  one-half  as  numerous  as  the 
white.  The  life  insurance  companies  recognize  this  greater 
mortality  among  the  negroes.  The  ratio  of  actual  to  expected 
deaths  among  negro  men  is  reported  as  follows  in  the  Med- 
ico-Actuarial Mortality  Investigation  ('13) :  Negro  ministers, 
teachers  and  other  professional  men,  137  per  cent. ;  all  other 
colored  men,  147  per  cent.  It  may  be  added  that  the  ratio 
for  North  American  Indians  is  124  per  cent. 

The  greater  colored  mortality  is  probably  due  to  a  number 
of  causes.  The  fact  that  the  higher  class  of  negro  men  has 
a  lower  death  rate  would  indicate  that  the  insanitary  condi- 
tions of  negro  life  are  a  factor.  And  the  nature  of  the  most 
prevalent  diseases  among  the  negroes  would  also  point  to  this. 
Tuberculosis,  for  instance,  is  the  cause  of  death  for  405.3  ne- 


132  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

groes  and  126.2  whites  per  100,000  population  of  each  race. 
As  better  living  conditions  are  established  among  our  col- 
ored population  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  their  death 
rate  will  not  be  relatively  so  much  greater  than  that  of  the 
whites.  But  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  also  probably  true  that 
the  natural  constitution  of  the  negro  is  a  factor  in  producing 
his  greater  mortality  in  America. 

However  this  may  be,  it  is  a  fact  that  the  negroes  in  this 
country  have  increased  less  rapidly  than  the  whites  in  recent 
years  in  proportion  to  their  numbers,  despite  the  general 
opinion  that  they  are  more  prolific  in  offspring.  In  the  coun- 
try at  large,  between  1900  and  1910,  the  native  whites  of 
native  parentage  increased  20.9  per  cent.;  the  native  whites 
of  foreign  or  mixed  percentage  increased  20.8  per  cent.  But 
the  negroes  increased  only  11.2  per  cent.,  and  in  the  South 
the  percentages  of  increase  for  the  two  races  are  approxi- 
mately the  same  as  those  for  the  nation. 


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Abstract,  with  Supplement  for  Va.,  also 
Thirteenth  Census  of  the  U.  S.,  1. 

13.      Census  Bulletin,  No.  112,  Mortality  Sta- 
tistics. 

Death  Rate  13.      Medico- Actuarial    Mortality    Investiga- 
tion, 2. 

Ebbinghaus,  H.  .  .  '97.      Uber  eine  neue  Methode    zur    Prufung 

geistiger  Fahigkeiten  und  ihre  Anwen- 
dung  bei  Schulkindern,  Z.  P.,  13,  401-459. 


134 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 


Galton,  F '92.      Heriditary  Genius,  pp.  368. 

Hall,  G.  S '03.      Psychic  Arrest  in  Adolescence,  N.  E.  A., 

811-816. 

'05      The  Negro  in  Africa  and  America,  Fed- 
Sem.,  12,  250-368. 

Hrdlicka,  A '98.      Physical  Differences  Between  White  and 

Colored  Children,  Proc.  Am.  Assoc.  Adv. 

Sci.,  47,  475-476. 

James,  W '92.      Principles  of  Psychology,   2. 

Jordan,  H.  E.  '13       The  Biological  Status  and  Social  Worth 

of  the  Mulatto,  Pop.  Sci.  Mo.,  82,  573- 

582. 

Judd,  C.  H '07.      Laboratory  Manual  of  Psychology,  pp. 

Le  Bon,  G '98.      The  Psychology  of  Peoples,  pp.  236. 

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REFERENCES.  135 

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109-133. 


136 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 


Appendix—  The  Tests 

Mixed  Relations  Test  I. 

Mixed  Relations  Test  II. 

Eye  —  see 

Ear- 

Good  —  bad 

long  — 

Monday  —  Tuesday 

April— 

Eagle—  bird 

Shark- 

Do—  did 

See- 

Eat  —  bread 

Drink— 

Bird  —  sings 

Dog— 

Fruit  —  orange 

Vegetable  — 

Hour  —  minute 

Minute- 

Sit  —  chair 

Sleep  — 

Straw  —  hat 

Leather  — 

Double  —  two 

Triple- 

Cloud  —  rain 

Sun- 

England  —  London 

France  — 

Hammer  —  tool 

Dictionary  — 

Chew  —  teeth 

Smell— 

Uncle  —  aunt 

Brother  — 

Pen  —  write 

Knife- 

Dog  —  puppy 

Cat- 

Water  —  wet 

Fire— 

Little  —  less 

Much  — 

He—  him 

She- 

Wash  —  face 

Sweep—- 

Boat —  water 

Train  — 

House  —  room 

Book  — 

Crawl  —  snake 

Swim  — 

Sky—  blue 

Grass  — 

Horse  —  colt 

Cow- 

Swim  —  water 

Fly- 

Nose  —  face 

Toe— 

Once  —  one 

Twice  — 

Bad  —  worse 

Good- 

Cat—  fur 

Bird- 

Hungry  —  food 

Thirsty— 

Pan  —  tin 

Table— 

Hat  —  head 

Glove  — 

Buy  —  sell 

Come  — 

Ship  —  captain 

Army  — 

Oyster  —  shell 

Banana  — 

Man  —  woman 

Boy  — 

APPENDIX.  137 

Completion  Test 

On  each  line  of  dots  write  the  word  which  makes  the  best 
meaning. 

23.  The  poor  baby as  if  it  were sick. 

24.  The rises the  morning  and 

at  night. 

25.  The    child    river    was 

drowned. 

26.  Boys    who    play mud    get  their 

hands  

27.  It  is  good  to  hear voice 

friend. 

28.  The    poor    little    has   nothing  to 

;  he  is  hungry. 

29.  Boys  and soon  become and  women 

30.  The  boy  who hard do  well. 

31.  She if  she  will. 

32.  One's     do     always    express    his 

thoughts. 

33.  Very  few  people  how  to    spend    time    and 

to  the  best  advantage. 

34.  It  is  a  task  to  be   kind   to    every    beggar 

for  money. 

35.  Brothers  and  sisters   always    to 

help other  and  should quarrel. 

36.  Worry  never  improved  a  situation  but  has 

made  conditions 

37.  Men   usually   more  to    do    heavy 

work women. 

38 weather    usually    a  good    effect 

one's  spirits. 

39.  If  a  person  injures  one  by ,  without  having 

intended    any     ,    one   should    

insulted. 

40.  A  shelter the  weather  is appreci- 

ated on  a day. 

41.  It  is  very   to  become   acquainted 

persons  who timid. 

42.  The  best  advice  usually  obtained 

one's  parents. 


138  THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  NEGRO. 

43.  A  home  is   merely    a   place    one 

live  comfortably. 

44.  The  sun  is  so that  one   can   not    

directly causing  great 

discomfort  to  the  eyes. 

45.  To many  things ever  finishing  any 

of  them a habit. 

46 are  imes  in  the of  almost 

of  us  when  we for  a  long  life. 

47.     Children    should     that   after   all   nobody   is 

to  care  much  more their  success 

than parents. 

Maze  Test — (three-fifths  original  size). 


Cancellation  Test 

OYKFIUDBHTAGDAACDIXAMRPAGQZTAACVAOWLYX 

WABBTHJJANEEFAAMEAACBSVSKALLPHANRNPKAZF 

YRQAQEAXJUDFOIMWZSAUCGVAOABMAYDYAAZJDAL 

JACINEVBGAOFHARPVEJCTQZAPJLEIQWNAHRBUIAS 

SNZMWAAAWHACAXHXQAXTDPUTYGSKGRKVLGKIM 

FUOFAAKYFGTMBLYZIJAAVAUAACXDTVDACJSIUFMO 

TXWAMQEAKHAOPXZWCAIRBRZNSOQAQLMDGUSGB 

AKNAAPLPAAAHYOAEKLNVFARJAEHNPWIBAYAQRK 

UPDSHAAQGGHTAMZAQGMTPNURQNXIJEOWYCREJD 

UOLJCCAKSZAUAFERFAWAFZAWXBAAAVHAMBATAD 

KVSTVNAPLILAOXYSJUOVYIVPAAPSDNLKRQAAOJLE 

GAAQYEMPAZNTIBXGAIMRUSAWZAZWXAMXBDXAJZ 

ECNABAHGDVSVFTCLAYKUKCWAFRWHTQYAFAAAOH 


Vita 

The  author  of  this  monograph  was  born  in  Leesburg,  Vir- 
ginia, Nov.  16,  1886.  His  education  was  obtained  in  the 
public  schools  of  his  native  town,  at  the  College  of  William 
and  Mary,  the  University  of  Virginia  and  Columbia  Uni- 
versity. In  1905  he  received  the  degree  of  L.  I.  from  William 
and  Mary,  and  in  1907  the  degree  of  B.  A.  from  the  same  in- 
stitution. In  1911  he  received  the  degree  of  M.  A.  from 
Columbia  University. 


YC 


GENERAL  LIBRARY  -  U.C.  BERKELEY 


BDDD8MMS37 


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